Young And Hostile, But Not Stupid
by Frigid Fire
Summary: She'd always been a bit of a loner. She'd just grown up that way. But maybe that was environmental, not innate. OCXMomo
1. 1: Oh No! My Ponta!

_***Author's Note - Okay, so, it's one-twenty-five... And we're really freakin' tired. So we're gonna keep this short and sweet. Enjoy, read, review. Please.  
**Yeah, yeah, yeah, we don't own The Prince of Tennis, 'cuz if we did Melissa would keep Fuji in her room and Eiji would sleep with Lex and her Adam Lambert blanket every night.**_

"Why does it freaking matter what English cognates are? And who cares about which road Robert Frost took? Mom, I'm never going to use this in my_ life!"_

Being homeschooled sucks. Just flat out saying that. It leaves you with no friends, an ungodly amount of homework, and a nagging mother. That is _all _I've gained from the past… eight? Nine years of my life?

"You need to learn 'The Road Not Taken_'_ so you learn how to not always follow the path of others, Chiaki."

As if I have _others_ to _follow_. Peer pressure doesn't exist if you have no peers to pressure you. By eighth grade, you would really think that I'd have more to do with my life than this.

"Screw 'The Road Not Taken_'_! I wanna read Tolkien's 'All That Glitters Is Not Gold_'_!"

"Why would you want to do that? Tolkien wasn't even known for his poetry."

"So? I've read all the Lord of the Rings books and now I need more Tolkien!"

We have arguments like this on a regular basis. I get bored, she gets bitchy, and then I demand more fantasy books. That's just how things happen here. And I don't think that'll change any time soon.

At least I had my chores. Other people my age (I would assume) don't like doing chores. But it gives me a chance to get out of the house. Even if I only walk a block to get to the greengrocer. Regardless, anywhere outside of my place of residence is a good place to be. Carrying six bags of groceries back to the house can be a pain in the ass though.

"Tolkien is a fantastic author whose works are to be respected, but we are not _in _the fantasy chapter of our studies! We are in the _poetry _unit! So take a five minute break and we'll continue. Take care of that attitude so we can get back to work."

She talks at me like I'm an idiot. I'm not overly intelligent, but I'm not stupid either. I've got a B- average, thank you very much.

"Stupid, freakin'… Screw the world," I kept on mumbling to myself as I walked to the kitchen. Looking through the cabinets for something to keep me motivated, I came upon a box of honey-flavored Pocky. I grinned, removing it from the cabinet. "Forget it, oto-chan, this is mine."

"Chiaki! Break's up! Let's get back to work!" I glared at the doorway, trying to seal my mother into a demon realm with only my eyes.

"Come on, we don't have all day!"

Ugh. FML. I prayed to every God I could imagine that my mother would find another poem – Dear God, Allah, Yahweh, Ra…

"I'm sure you are going to be very displeased, but I'm discontinuing your study of _The Road Not Taken._"

I'm pretty sure that Ra is the one who took care of that for me. This time…

"Instead, we'll be moving onto a poem that deals more with _fantasy_ and _storytelling_. That _is_ what you wanted, correct?" Her tone was very teacher-like. I hate her teacher voice.

"Yes, oka-san, that is _exactly_ what I wanted. Now what poem is this that you're speaking of?"

One word escaped my mother's lips and my world crumbled.

"_Beowulf_."

My eyes widened and I quickly began to protest, the disagreement escalating into an argument full of screaming. No matter what method I tried, she was unreasonable and ridiculously steadfast in her resolve that I was going to read _Beowulf, _which was totally _not _going to happen.

It was cut off by my mother yelling at me to go to my room until I got my attitude re-adjusted. Too bad that that'll never happen…

"Actually, no. I don't want you to go to your room. Go to the grocery store and get everything on this list." My dad called up to my room. He shoved a piece of paper in my face, waving it there and waiting for me to grab it. I took it gladly, as my mom stuttered out, "But, I just told her to –"

"Honey. We need groceries."

"Yeah, oka-san. We need groceries." I winked at her, and walked out the door. Thank you, Dad, I owe you one. He always manages to get me out of sticky situations with Mom. He's completely the opposite of her – laid-back, mellow, and easy-going. Mom's high-strung like no tomorrow. Regardless, I got out into the outside world and took a look at the list quickly. I did a double-take as I saw the atrocious number of items on the list.

"_What the __**hell**__?!" _Well, that would explain why I could only find Pocky in the cupboards. This would take a while. A _long_ while.

I walked around town for over an hour getting everything on the list. It was written in English in my mother's awful handwriting. This was a vain attempt to teach me more English. Too bad Dad had written the items normally on the side of the paper in Japanese. I do love my dad.

I was about to head home with my eight million grocery bags when I heard someone yelling about something being on fire. I turned to see what exactly was burning and immediately fell down from the impact of something on my forehead, followed by some sort of liquid trailing down my face. And no, it wasn't water. It was some sort of sticky beverage. Water would be way too damn simple. My immediate reaction was anger, followed by embarrassment as the orange liquid covered my head.

I saw two boys, maybe a year older than I was, in full Seigaku uniform. One was holding a tennis racket, still screaming that something was 'burning' even though at this point the only things burning were my cheeks. The other had bright red hair, who was trying to wrestle the racket from the 'burning' man.

"Taka-san! Give me back my racket!"

"Eiji! Justice must be fought for! I will stop at nothing! We must get the purse snatcher!" The red-haired boy managed to get the racket out of the other's grip, and immediately his composure changed.

"What the hell?" I started to mumble, "I just go out to get some damn groceries and I get covered in juice or something. I don't even know what this stuff is! And this was my favorite shirt!" I said the last bit louder.

"My juice! Where is it?! We must find it, Taka-san! I need to see if there's any left!" I started to sit up, still fuming.

"Uh, Eiji," the 'burning' man said quietly, pointing in my general direction. "I don't think you'll be able to salvage any…"

"What?" the redhead said, craning his neck towards me. "Oh, no! My Ponta!"

"Your _Ponta_?! Your freaking _Ponta_?!" I was livid. The boy with a split personality quickly came over, apologizing profusely.

"Is there anything I can do to apologize for this? I feel awful about it!" He seemed genuinely sorry, but I wasn't about to completely let him off the hook, and not his friend either. I was still seething.

"You and your friend can help me carry home my _freaking groceries!_"

"Uh, uh, yes! Of course! Eiji!" The redhead turned to us, sad look firmly planted on his face, even though it was extremely difficult to take him seriously with the band-aid on his cheek.

"But I don't want to, nyah," he said, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"But… Eiji…I think that we owe her at least _that_ much. We did make her spill all her bags, after all. Just think of it as, uh, weight training…?" the apologetic one said timidly, starting to help me pick up my bags.

"She spilled my Ponta, nyah," he said with a slight air of general dislike.

"Eiji…" he pleaded as he held out a bag for the one named 'Eiji' to take.

The redhead pouted slightly before taking a load of bags in his arms. "I hope you know you owe me a Ponta, Taka-san."

We walked, and they introduced themselves as Kawamura Takashi and Kikumaru Eiji.

"I see. Hmm, so, Kawamura-san and Kikumaru-san, correct? I'm Hasegawa Chiaki."

"No! Call me Eiji, nyah!" Eiji was clearly not crying over spilt Ponta anymore.

"And please… Call me Taka-san, at least."

"Okay. Taka-san, Eiji-kun."

"Ah, Aki-chan, so cute, nyah!" This Eiji guy was… something else, to say the least. Just a moment ago he'd hated my living guts because of the incident with his Ponta. At least Taka had the sense to keep his trap shut every now and then.

We made it to my house, after what seemed to be an infinitely long ten-minute period of Eiji's incessant babbling.

"Do you want us to leave these outside or –"

"Um, hell no," I interrupted Taka, "you have to bring these to the kitchen. It's required."

"So, where do you even go to school?" I chuckled at Taka's question, and pointed to the adjacent room.

"Right there, Taka-san."

"You're… home-schooled?" He sounded as though the concept was completely foreign to him.

"Yup. Count your lucky stars that you two go to public school… Er, private, I guess. Seigaku, right?"

"That's right, nyah! Seigaku's the best that there is!"

Eiji was posed with his right arm pumped in the arm, other hand on his hip, as my mom entered the room.

"Chiaki, why am I hearing strange voic-" she stopped in mid-sentence and her jaw dropped to the floor.

Eiji's eyes went wide before he ran up to her, and bowed low with a big smile plastered on his face. "Kikumaru Eiji, nyah, senior at Seigaku Middle!"

"Hello, sorry about this Hasegawa-san. We'll be out of here soon. I'm Kawamura Takashi," Taka said with a slight smile and a low bow. I could tell that he was my mom's favorite out of those two - and rationally, if Eiji had been her favorite, I would have laid down and died.

My mom stared at them in silent concern. "Uh, yeah… I don't have many friends, let alone _guy_ friends, so this may be awkward for my mother to deal with…" I said quietly, breaking the awkward silence.

"I think we better go, Eiji. We don't want to make Hasegawa-san feel uncomfortable in her own home," Taka said as he started to push Eiji out my door. Eiji, of course was causing a ruckus.

"But I want Aki-chan's number! She's so cute, nyah!" My mom looked aghast, and my cheeks turned pink. Did this boy have _no _filter at all?

"Uh, I think I'll, uh, show them the way out," I said quickly as I followed them out, praying to God that I would still be allowed out of the house after today.

"Aki-chan! Aki-chan! Can I have your number now?" Eiji looked so hopeful as he bounced around on my doorstep.

"No, Eiji-kun. Now get out of my house."

"But, but, Aki-channnn!"

"No."

"I'm very sorry for any trouble we caused…"

"Don't sweat it, Taka-san." Truly, I meant that. I liked Taka.

"I will be back here every day, nyah! I will come back to Aki-chan's house every day until I get her number! It's my _mission_, nyah!" It seemed as though Eiji's resolve was unshakable.

"Yeah, um… You have fun with that." Taka apologized again, and I shut the door as Eiji was continuing his pledge to one day acquire my phone number.

If all people are as troublesome as _they_ are (they being Eiji, of course), maybe being home-schooled _is_ better than going to public school.


	2. 2: His Dedication Amuses Me

**A/N:**Hello to our lovely readers! This is our second chapter of this here story. And as a random bit of trivia, it was written completely over email. So that was pretty interesting. At least we didn't have arguments over formatting. :) We apologize if the chapter's a little short, but it was fun to write and re-read, so we hope you enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: We do not own Prince Of Tennis, otherwise I would steal Fuji, and Lex would hide Eiji in her room. ;)

Special thanks to those who favorited... I would give you a shoutout, but my computer isn't letting me bring up the stats page... But I may add it later if I get _really_ bored. (But don't count on it.)

* * *

"And if you use the quadratic formula _here_, then you get –"

"But why? Why am I using this? Who cares if I can graph a parabola or not? Math just _sucks!_"

"You're using this because –"

"_Mom. It was a rhetorical question."_

I swear, sometimes she is so dense. You would think that she would know when I was being a smart-aleck or whatever, but after thirteen years, my mother still doesn't get it. The argument continued for a bit, and we heard a knock on the door. I heard my dad yell down the stairs, "I'll get it!" and he answered the door. I was a little curious as to who was there. We don't get visitors often. I heard a few voices, and then my father yelled, "Chiaki! You have visitors!"

My eyes widened. Oh my God. No way.

"Aki-channn!" The flaming redhead burst through the door as my father left the room, glomping me in a huge hug.

"You're so cute, nyah!"

"Eiji-kun… _What _are you _doing _in my _house?!_ And who's _that?!_"

"I'm Fuji Syuusuke. Pleasure to meet you."

"Umm… Hasegawa Chiaki. Good to meet you as well, Fuji-san… Eiji-kun, get _off of me!_" I threw the redhead off with a jerk. "And get out of my house!" I yelled as I threw him out the door.

"But, Aki-chan..." he pouted on my doorstep. I smiled slightly as I slammed the door in his face.

I turned and stared at the boy who gave me an empty smile with his eyes closed. "Ah... Hello..." I said awkwardly.

"It seems that you forgot to throw me out as well," he chuckled.

"Would you like me to fix that for you?" I asked sarcastically.

"Not in particular. If you want me to leave, I'll just go."

"No, Fuji-san, you're welcome to stay... I guess. Could I interest you in a Ponta?" I asked motioning for him to sit down as I walked over to the fridge.

"Sure. I suppose that I shouldn't stay too long though. Eiji will kill me if I get to hang out with his 'Aki-chan' more than he does."

I handed him his Ponta. "I think you could take him in a fight, so you should be okay." He smiled a bit wider.

"Aki-chaaaaannnnnnn..." I heard Eiji whine from outside. I couldn't help but laugh at how adorably pathetic he was.

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"But, but, I thought the dinosaurs died from a giant asteroid!"

"Yes, Chiaki, that is one theory, but there are many others as well."

Fuji had actually made for quite enjoyable company, even though he left almost ten minutes after he arrived because Eiji was throwing a fit outside. That boy was something else.

"Like what? A supermassive black hole came and swallowed them all up?"

"No, like -"

There was a knock on the door, interrupting my mother and bringing me to a defensive state of mind. Eiji... It had to be Eiji.

"I got it!" My dad is like, the ultimate door-answerer. It's like a dog whisperer, but better.

"Ah, yes, thank you," I heard my dad say.

"It was the mailman," he explained as he entered the room with my mother and I. I let out a sigh of relief, and then the door was knocked upon again. I sat up quickly, and my dad answered the door.

"Oh, of course," I heard dad say, "Chiaki! You have visitors again!"

_Nooooooo!_

"Eiji-kun! What do you _want from me?!_" Today the bubbly redhead was here with a brunette with two slivers for bangs.

"I thought it was obvious. I want your number, nyah!" he flashed me a peace sign.

"Ugh..." I glared at Eiji before grabbing his friend's wrist and pulling him in my house. I slammed the door on Eiji's surprised face. I turned to his friend and smiled ever-so-slightly. "Uh... hi. I'm Hasegawa Chiaki."

The boy laughed slightly before saying, "It's nice to meet you, Chiaki-san. I'm Oishi Syuichiroh. I'm really sorry about Eiji... He seems to be awfully fascinated by you."

"I suppose I'll take that as a compliment, Oishi-san. Would you like a Ponta?"

"Sure, thanks," he said, sitting down in the same chair Fuji sat in the day before.

"So what's your connection with Eiji-kun exactly?" I asked to fill the awkward silence.

"He's my doubles partner. Actually, we're called 'The Golden Pair'."

"Doubles in what?"

"Tennis of course."

"You two play tennis?" He nodded. "Oh, right, I knew that. Taka-san stole Eiji-kun's racket to assault me with a can of juice..." Well that's just peachy. Eiji's probably going to bring the whole damn team here one by one to harass me. Well, so far, his plan is backfiring. I think he'll give up eventually. He doesn't seem like the patient type... But hell, I've been wrong before.

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"Mussolini was a freaking idiot! What kind of loser can't even win a battle like that? Hitler so should've dropped him while he had the chance!"

"_Chiaki! We are _**_not _**_endorsing what Adolf Hitler did, nor are we trying to figure out how he could've won World War II!"_

I liked Oishi quite a bit as well, even if his haircut did piss me off.

"But Mom... There are idiots like Mussolini who are just holding the world ba-"

And of course, as I was quickly becoming used to, there was a knock on the door.

"I got it!" I tell you, my dad is like, obsessed with answering the door. I waited for it...

"Chiaki! You have a visitor!" What? Just one? That was new.

"Aki-chan!" I've come to accept this as the standard Eiji greeting.

"What, no buddy today, Eiji-kun?"

"Well... I had one, but O'chibi _ditched _me! Can you believe that, nyah?!"

"Yes. As a matter of a fact, I can."

"Well, can I have your number today, Aki-chan?"

"...No." And I slammed the door in his face. I turned to find my dad, who was standing there with a knowing look on his face.

"His dedication amuses me," he said, a smirk was firmly planted on my face.

"You're hilarious, oto-chan," I said sarcastically. There was yet another knock at the door.

"I got-"

"No, oto-chan, I'll get it this time," I said, swinging open the door. "Oh... Hello, Taka-san." Taka smiled slightly and I saw Eiji's red hair flash behind him.

"Hello, Chiaki-san. I would just like to apologize for Eiji-kun's behavior these past few days."

"Why are you apologizing for him?"

"He doesn't see that you can bring charges up against him for harassment," Taka said awkwardly.

"I'm not harassing, nyah!" he argued, popping up beside Taka. "I just want Aki-chan's number because she's so cute!" His lop-sided grin amused me, not that I'd admit it to him.

I sighed. "I wouldn't do anything like that. No matter _how_ annoying it is. Do you want a Ponta?" I asked as Taka nodded and stepped inside slowly. Eiji had a tattered look of defeat strewn across his features.

"Aren't you coming, Eiji-kun?" I asked casually.

He looked up at me slowly, looking confused before he glomped me again. "Oh, I'm so happy! Aki-chan doesn't hate me anymore! You were just playing hard to get after all, nyah!"

"Eiji-kun! _**Get off of me!!!**_"

"But Aki-chan is so cute! Nyah!"

This kid... I guess you could say that he's one of my first friends. I sure can pick 'em, huh?


	3. 3: Man Delighteth Me

**A/N:** Hey everyone! Third chapter already out. We should get kudos for being so awesome at updating so fast. ;) Once again, this was written over email. Which is always interesting. And while I was waiting for the email, I looked up Disney songs on YouTube and listened to slam poetry! It's intense. No joke. :) And as a random bit of trivia... the title of the email was "I Love My Willy! ;)" I realize that you probably don't care, but I thought I'd just throw that in there. :)

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Prince Of Tennis. (Unfortunately) If we did, Fuji and Eiji would be the main characters and Fuji would open is eyes more. :)

Oh, and you may notice that sometimes, our favoritism gets the better of us... So take any favoritism as you like. We won't tell you who she's going to end up with... It's still a secret... Or we don't know yet. Take your pick. xD

Special thanks to: Arrancar-Baka, reconix, and strawbewii for favoriting this story! :)

And special-special thanks to chocolvr69 for your lovely review! It made our lives better. It truly did. :)

Okay, I'm done talking now, so enjoy Young And Hostile, But Not Stupid Chapter 3: Man Delighteth Me

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"What a piece of work is man. So noble in reason, so... infinite in...faculties. In form and moving, how... express and... admirable. In action how like a...um...um... angel! In apprehension... how like... like a... like a god...? Oka-san, why do I have to learn this?!"

"Because William Shakespeare's _Hamlet_ is part of your studies," she replied calmly.

"I don't mind _reading_ Shakespeare. I just don't understand why I have to _memorize_ his What A Piece Of Work Is Man speech! I mean, it's not like the To Be Or Not To Be speech, so it's not as important! It even comes after the To Be Or Not To Be speech! That confirms its non-important-ness!"

"Chiaki," she said rubbing her temples, "You will do as I say."

It was Sunday. And it was supposed to be my day off. My mother decided that since my lessons have been interrupted several times this week, she would make me learn a few hours on my day off. I don't see how that's a fair trade. I was gone for fifteen minutes at the most for two of those times. So why should I have to spend my _whole_ Sunday morning studying a stupid speech that nobody cares about? I hate her.

"Just explain to me how this even makes sense. Sure, man is a piece of work, I'll give Willy that. But how is man angelic or godly? And why should anything admire man? Man is stupid! They just waltz around the world ruining habitats and building factories! That's neither express, nor is it admirable! And as for that one bit later in the speech, why does he even _bring up_ the beauty of the world? Or the 'paragon of animals'? It's meaningless! And why does he say, 'Man delighteth not me'? Why can't he just say delight like normal people? Is he trying to be cool? Is that Shakespeareian slang?" At that point, I was just trying to piss her off. And it was working.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. "I've got it!" my dad's voice rang out. I waited for it. "Chiaki! You have visitors!"

I knew it.

"Eiji-kun! I already gave you my number! Why are you at my house?!" I whined as I walked over to the door.

"We're kidnapping you for the day, nyah!"

"Did he kidnap you too, Fuji-san?" I asked wearily to the boy who held an empty smile, putting my hand to my forhead.

"Technically, no, but I'd be willing to say otherwise."

"So _please _Aki-chan?" Eiji whined.

"**No!**" If you didn't gather that, my mother entered the room, "I _refuse _to let my daughter roam the streets with such -"

"Sure. Have fun, Chiaki." Oh my God I love my dad.

"But, but, Ryuu, Chiaki's studies -"

"They can wait, Karin. She's a kid. Give her a break."

"**Yeah!**So let's go Aki-chan!" Eiji grabbed my wrist, and pulled me out the door.

"Um, okay. Thanks, oto-chan!" I yelled as I was dragged along the sidewalk. One can't argue with a boy the likes of Kikumaru Eiji... Fuji let out a laugh, and followed us as the redhead pulled me down the street.

"So, um... Where are we going?" I asked, after Eiji's pace had finally slowed. Fuji had caught up to us, and we were walking down the streets of Tokyo. I have to say... I sort of liked this. Feeling like one has friends is an amazing emotion. I looked towards Fuji for an answer.

"Don't ask me. Eiji decided we were all going to get together and hang out today."

That sounded... very bad, actually.

"Eiji-kun, where are we going?" I asked, trying my best to sound amused.

"First? Pet store, nyah!" I looked at Fuji.

"How the hell do you put up with his enthusiasm all the time?"

"Well, if you met the rest of the Seigaku regulars, I'm fairly certain you would think that Eiji is among the most normal of all of us." I deadpanned. Eiji was the most... _normal?! _What a screwed up world this is...

"We're here! Nyah!" Eiji exclaimed as he grabbed my wrist again and pulled me inside. Fuji followed at his own pace. Which was slow and leisurely, in case you were wondering...

Eiji went straight to where the kittens were kept. When he turned around again, there were six of them clinging to his shirt and climbing all over him.

"They seem to like you, Eiji-kun." I laughed as a grey one climbed on top of his head.

"They're so cute! Nyah! Fujiko, you should get a kitty!" Eiji exclaimed, bouncing ever so slightly in excitement at the thought.

I turned to Fuji, looking him up and down. "I don't think Fuji-san is much of a cat person... He seems like an Irish Setter sort of guy."

"Actually, I'm more of a cactus-lover myself," he replied smiling.

"Oh! That reminds me!" I said, turning around and scanning the shelves..

"What is it, Aki-chan?"

"Aphrodite needs some food," I replied holding up a container of dead flies.

"Aprodite's a lizard right? Nyah?"

"No, Aphrodite is my Venus Fly Trap," I said grinning.

Fuji chuckled. "You named your Venus Fly Trap Aphrodite? That's a bit ironic, naming it after the _Greek_ goddess when _Venus_ was _Roman_."

"Oh, so you caught that?" I smiled. "Not many people get the irony of that. Kudos, Fuji-san." I grabbed what I needed for Aphrodite quickly and purchased it.

Eiji was thoroughly enjoying playing with the small cats, and I had started to wonder if, under all his obnoxiousness, he wasn't a truly sweet guy.

It was awhile before Fuji and I could convince Eiji that there was more to do in the city, especially since I could only be out so long before my mother threw a fit. The redhead pouted, and for a moment I actually felt sorry - he'd quickly grown attached to the gray kitten who had adopted Eiji as a plaything.

Or, I _did_ feel sorry until Eiji grabbed my wrist and we were off again..

"Damn it, Eiji-kun, do you _ever _slow down?"

"Good joke, Chiaki-san," I heard Fuji say. Eiji finally slowed down in front of a sushi restaurant, and I realized that I was actually quite hungry.

"Ahh..." Fuji said, "Nothing like Kawamura family sushi..."

"Oh? Kawamura? Does Taka-san work here, then?"

"You got it, nyah! Taka's family owns this restaurant, and they make the best sushi there is!" I smiled. Eiji's enthusiasm about everything was actually kind of... endearing.

Oh. Hell no. I will _not_ allow myself to be charmed by this hyperactive tennis player. Eiji gave me a flashy grin, and pulled me into the restaurant. Fuji was quick to follow; for once.

"Hey, Taka-san," Fuji said waving. "I'll take anything you have with wasabi." His tone was serious. Fuji must take his eating very seriously.

"Can I have my usual, nyah?"

"Sure. What can I get for you, Chiaki-san?" Taka asked with a warm smile.

"Uh... I'll take whatever they're getting, I suppose..." I said slowly. It all looked so good that I couldn't decide. So I just resolved on eating what my friends say is good. It feels great being able to call them friends. I smiled inwardly.

"The wasabi too?" Taka asked in surprise.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I like wasabi?" I asked casually.

"Because it's gross, nyah," Eiji replied with slight disgust.

I rolled my eyes and laughed with Fuji.

Lunch continued without incident. Eiji made several side comments about his dislike for wasabi. Wait, I can't say that no incidents happened... Fuji slipped a piece of sushi with wasabi onto Eiji's plate.

"It's so gross, nyah," Eiji said as he picked up the wasabi-filled sushi without even noticing. Once he popped it in his mouth, he noticed.

I couldn't contain myself any more. I laughed so hard that I cried when I saw the look on his face when he took that bite.

"What's the matter, Eiji-kun?" Fuji asked in a mocking tone.

I laughed harder (if that was even possible) when he ran to the bathroom to wash the taste out of his mouth.

"Why...did you...Fuji-san...?" I gasped in between fits of laughter, wiping off the tears that fell down my red face.

"That ought to teach him to kidnap us on our day off," he chuckled.

"You are such a sadist," I said still grinning.

Did I actually know if he was a sadist? No. But for the first time since I met him, Fuji's smile looked genuine. Make a mental note not to make him mad... Although I doubt that he could ever find something to really inflict upon me that would make him smile like he was at that moment.

What a piece of work is man...

And unlike Willy Shakespeare... Man delighteth me. Very much.


	4. 4: What Kind of Sick Bastards

**_A/N:_** 'Tis Chapter Four! We're pumping these out like it's nothing! *Knock on wood* Anyway, my life's getting really crazy with volleyball and all that good crap, but Melissa's still going to be writing and I'm going to do what I can. Thanks and love to our favoriters/reviewers... Who I can't bring up right now because my internet's dumb and it's really slow tonight... Sorry. =S[

_******We don't own The Prince of Freaking Tennis. Got it memorized? If we did, and Melissa had her way, Atobe Keigo would be dead. But Lex likes him too much for him to be dead. So stick that in your juice box, and **suck it.**_

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"Now, Chiaki, name three types of personality disorders for me."

Oh, my God. I actually knew this one.

"Histrionic, narcissistic, and obsessive-compulsive!" I'm always ecstatic when I know an answer to something, or at least when I don't fail miserably at my schoolwork.

"Name another one for bonus points, Chiaki," she said sternly.

"Hold on, let me think a minute… Oh! Borderline!"

"Yes! I _knew _you could do it! If only you applied yourself more often, Chiaki, what a brilliant student you _could _be!" Ouch, Mom. Way to kill the moment and let me know you think that I'm always slacking off.

"You think I don't… You think I don't _try_?!" I was furious.

"It's not that I think you don't try. It's that I think you don't try hard _enough_." I looked her straight in the eyes with a loathing I can't even describe.

"I'm going out." I got up, quickly exiting the room.

"Hasegawa Chiaki! Don't you _dare _leave this house!"

"Watch me." I reached for the door, and at the last moment I turned at looked at my mother. "Ever think that maybe I'm just not as intelligent as you _dream_ me to be?" A look came over her face as if she'd been slapped, and I left.

I'm used to fights with my mom, but that one was worse than most. In fact, I almost felt sort of… _guilty _about walking out on her like that.

Plus, as soon as I exited my house and was out on the street, I realized I had no idea what I was going to do. Even though school was already out for them, Eiji and Fuji were at practice, so I couldn't exactly ask them to go hang out.

Well… If they couldn't come to me, I wonder if I could go to them? I really hope that they have open practices…

"Nyah! It's Aki-chaaaannnn!!!" Eiji yelled as I walked over to the Seigaku tennis courts. He bounded over to the fence. "What are you doing here, Aki-chan?!"

"Not much, really. Would it be okay if I watched your practice?" I asked slowly.

"Of course! Nyah!"

Fuji started to walk over. "Fuji-san, is it _really_ okay if I watch? I have reason to believe that Eiji-kun would lie to me."

"No, you should be fine," he answered as he leaned against the fence.

"Eiji-kun. Get back to practice," a very authoritative voice demanded.. I looked up to see that it came from a boy with chestnut-colored hair and oval glasses.

"But, Tezuka-buchou! Aki-chan just got heeeerrrrreeee!!!" he whined.

The boy named Tezuka glared. "Twenty laps."

"Fine, nyah."

Fuji laughed slightly at Eiji's crestfallen face. "Is that your captain?" I asked Fuji just to get a conversation started up.

"Yeah, it is. He's our number one singles player at Seigaku and a southpaw..."

"A southpaw? What's that?"

"It's a left-handed player. Our rookie is also a lefty."

"I would assume that the short one over there is your rookie," I said pointing to a boy in a white hat who was practicing some sort of serve against a wall.

"Yeah. That's Echizen. He's our only seventh grader that's a regular," Fuji responded.

"Hey! Fujiko! Break time is over, nyah! And quit hogging Aki-chan!" Eiji called from across the courts.

"Well, sorry, but that's my cue to leave."

"Oh, no problem, Fuji-san. I'll see you and Eiji-kun after practice." Fuji nodded with that empty smile of his, grabbed his racket and walked over to the court Eiji was on.

Um... I wasn't really sure what to do at this point, seeing as how Eiji and Fuji were the only people I really knew, and Oishi was already over on the court that they were heading to.

Then I heard a "BURNING!" and knew that I should really go and watch Taka's match.

Because, seriously, Taka's my favorite bipolar junior high schooler.

It wasn't too difficult to locate the court on which Taka was playing. All I had to do was follow the loud voice screaming various things to taunt the other player.

I found the match to actually be quite interesting. I'm not an athletic person by nature, so to see people moving the way Taka and his opponent were completely blew my mind. The kid he was playing was fairly tall, black-haired with... purple eyes? I couldn't really tell from the distance. The match ended, with Taka the winner.

"YEAH! Momoshiro, you're good, but you're not that good! I am on FIRE!"

I couldn't help it; I had to cheer a little for Taka.

"Nice job, Taka-san," I said, clapping a bit. I noticed that this... Momoshiro, was it? Well, the opponent took Taka's racket, and Taka looked over to where I was standing in confusion.

"Oh? Thanks Chiaki-san. It was nothing, really." I smiled at his shyness. It's hard to believe the two sides of him are really one person.

"Don't be silly, Taka-san. I bet that you could still beat me with both hands tied behind your back."

"But how could I hold a racket with no hands...?" Taka asked me in confusion.

"That's the point. You could win by just standing there," I said smiling.

"Hey, Taka-san! Is this your girlfriend?" The one named... Momoshiro asked with a sly look on his face.

Taka got a little red and looked embarrassed, "N-no..."

"Oh, so she is then?" His face was a bit evil-looking.

"Actually, no. I'm just a friend of Taka-san and a few other guys on your team," I answered bluntly. "My name is Hasegawa Chiaki. And who might you be?" I realized that I probably sounded a bit snobby, but this guy seemed to embarrass Taka-san, so I didn't like him all that much.

"Momoshiro Takeshi. My friends call me Momo," he replied with an air of arrogance.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Momoshiro-san." I hoped that he would pick up on the hint that we weren't going to be friends. He was far too... I can't think of a word to describe it, but what I'm getting at is I'm pretty sure we weren't going to get along. "Taka-san, could you direct me to where Oishi-san and Eiji-kun are playing?"

"Sure. It's right that way..." he said pointing off to the next court.

"Thanks, Taka-san! I'll see you after practice, right?" He nodded, and I headed off to see the "Golden Pair" play... and presumably kick ass.

"Hmm... Wonder what I did to make her not like me so much," I heard Momoshiro say.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Momo. She didn't like Eiji at all when they first met. Chiaki-san will come around.

Ooh. Taka had me there. Oh, well.

I reached the court where Eiji, Fuji, Oishi, and the freshman, Echizen, were playing and stopped to watch. I saw a guy in glasses feeding them balls, and he said something along the lines of, "We've never had Fuji and Echizen play together before, so we're going to put them together to make them learn to feed off of each other's strengths."

"Oh geez!" I couldn't help the words slipping out of my mouth as a ball came over the net just behind Eiji. This seventh grader was definitely something... and then I heard a, "Sorry, maybe next week!" from a voice I distinctly knew as Kikumaru Eiji. I looked to see him hit the ball... with his racket around his back! This kid was practically flying!

I watched the match in awe, watching the points go back and forth, mostly to the Golden Pair because this Echizen kid wasn't very good at the whole teamwork thing.

When the match ended, Eiji and Oishi were the obvious winners. The look on Echizen's face quickly turned sickly as the guy with glasses held up some sort of chunky liquid to his face. I'm pretty sure I turned a little green just looking at it. Fuji took a drink of it, and he wasn't fazed at all, so I thought that maybe it didn't taste as badly as it looked. Then Echizen took a drink, and passed out.

What sort of sick bastards do they have running this team?!


	5. 5: Nice To Meet You, Shortstuff

**A/N: **Hey guys. Here's the... fifth..? Yeah, fifth chapter of this story. This one, too was written completely over email. Lex even had to use her iPod a couple times because Mum stole the computer. :( We started writing earlier, but it took longer. This chapter was fun to write, so we hope you like it. I would say that it's my favorite chapter, but it's not. The second one is. You should really read it. There's some good stuff in there. :)

Uh... Lex wants you all to review because apparently, there's some people out there who won't read unless there's alot of good reviews. She's one of those people. So if you want more people to read this, just do us a favor and type a few words of encouragement or suggestions because... Well, I don't actually know why, but you should do it anyway. :) And thanks to all of our wonderful favoriters! We appreciate your favoriting-ism... Yeah. :) Favoriters and reviews give us big ego boosts (not that either of us really needs our egos boosted...) which makes us update at the speed of Light!

By the way, the speed of Light is like a chapter per night...In case you didn't know. (To any Death Note fans, do you also like making puns about Light even though no one else will get them? Because I find joy in that. But maybe I'm just weird...) Okay! Enough digression!

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Prince Of Tennis. If we did, Fuji would be my lover, his fangirls would be dead, and Eiji would be living with Lex and her grey cat, Lennox. :) And that one girl... Tono-something-or-other... she'd be dead also because she pisses my shit off. :D

* * *

"Aaaaakkkkkkkkkiiiiiiiiiiiiii-cchhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnn!!!!!!!!!" Eiji yelled as he glomped me once practice was over and he was free.

"Ow! Eiji-kun! You're crushing me! _Get off!_" I yelled, trying to wrench myself free of him. Fuji laughed at me as I struggled. "Fuji-san! Help me!"

"No, I wouldn't want to break up such a massive hug. I can feel the love all the way over here," he said chuckling.

"If you want any hope of feeding Aphrodite, you'll get me out of this," I replied. I think Eiji was trying to break my ribs at this point.

"Fine. Eiji, if you don't let Chiaki-san go, I'll steal your teddy bear."

"No, nyah!" Eiji cried, letting me go immediately. I lost my balance and fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Unfair, Fujiko!"

"Th-thanks...F-Fuji-san..."

"No problem," he replied with that empty smile of his. If I didn't offer him the chance to feed my Venus Flytrap, I'm pretty sure Fuji would've just left me there to die of suffocation. He's so sadistic...

Taka offered me his outstretched hand and helped me up. I muttered my thanks as Eiji started talking.

"Aki-chan! Why'd you come here, nyah? Do you wanna go somewhere? Did you miss me, nyah?" he was bouncing around again. I swear, that boy is too hyper for his own good.

The look on his face was so hopeful that even I couldn't bring myself to crush it. I sighed.

"Of course I missed you, Eiji-kun."

His face brightened up even more, if possible, and Fuji laughed. I heard a voice that was certainly Momoshiro's, saying, "Hey, Echizen, let's go get some burgers!"

Eiji's ears perked up. "Momo! Echizen! Me, Aki-chan, Taka-san and Fujiko are coming with you, nyah!"

Wait... What?!?

"Err... Eiji-kun, I don't think that's such a -"

"Come on, Aki-chan!" When that kid sets his mind to something, there is no stopping him.

Momoshiro laughed. "Looks like Eiji has a new toy," he said, when Eiji had finally slowed his pace.

"Would you like to take my place, Momoshiro-san?" I asked sarcastically.

"Uh... No thanks," he replied uneasily, putting his hand behind his head and giving an awkward smile.

"Didn't think so..." I muttered.

"Hey, Eiji, where'd you pick up this one?" Momoshiro asked in a slightly mocking tone.

"Taka hit her on the head with my Ponta, nyah. Then she made us carry home her groceries and she wouldn't give me her number!"

"Oh, quit your whining, Eiji-kun! You got my number two whole days ago! And you _still_ come to my house practically every day!"

"Oh, Eiji-senpai, is this the girl whose house you tried to drag me to?" Echizen asked as if he had just made the connection.

"You must be O'chibi then. Eiji-kun was pretty heartbroken when you ditched him that day," I said chuckling as I remembered Eiji's crestfallen face. "I'm Hasegawa Chiaki. It's nice to meet you, Shortstuff."

Echizen didn't seem to like the new nickname that was bestowed upon him, but I guess it doesn't really matter. Everyone else seemed to find it amusing.

We reached the burger joint after a few minutes of random, but lively conversation. We all ordered and received our food. Eiji was last in line.

"Hey, Eiji! This was on you, right?" Momoshiro called from the table that we all sat down at.

Eiji looked surprised as he looked at the receipt he was handed. Fuji had told the lady who took our order to put it all on the redhead's bill. Eiji grumbled a little, pulled out his wallet and paid for us.

"Nyah. You guys don't hold back, do you?" he said as he looked for where to sit. "No fair! Oishi! Fujiko! Quit hogging Aki-chan!" I have a feeling that this was yet another ploy to crush Eiji. I was crammed in between Oishi and Fuji who were both grinning from ear to ear.

"Who's hogging?" Oishi asked innocently, taking a bite of his burger.

"Fine! I'll sit next to O'chibi, nyah," Eiji fired back. The look of disappointment on his face was obvious.

"You guys are really mean," I said with a benevolent smile on my face.

Taka, who was just across the table, said, "That was a sort of a mean thing to do..."

"YEAH," Eiji said, "downright cruel! Stealing my Aki-chan..."

I sighed. I felt a bit bad, actually - or I did, until that damn Momoshiro started running his mouth again.

"I find it a bit difficult to believe that Eiji's not your boyfriend, given all his attention to you."

My face turned pink. "What grade are you in, Momoshiro-san?"

"Eighth."

"Oh. My grade."

"Why do you ask?"

"Because for a second I was pretty damn sure you were seven years old!"

"Whoa, calm down. What's your problem with me anyway?"

"What's my problem with you? I just. Don't. Like. You."

The burger joint was silent, and Momoshiro was just sort of sitting there, completely still.

For the first time since I met him, Fuji opened his eyes in astonishment. His eyes were a pretty blue, but I couldn't focus on that right now. I was glaring into those dark purple eyes across the sticky table. I had had enough.

"Will you all excuse me? It's about time that I go home." I stood up, taking my untouched double cheeseburger and left without another word.

I was about halfway home before I heard someone calling my name from behind me. I turned, half-expecting to see Eiji, but instead I saw Taka running towards me.

"Chiaki-san!" he said, breathing hard once he reached me. "You walk _really_ fast..."

"Taka-san?" I asked my mouth full of cheeseburger. I swallowed and said, "I suppose you were given the task of dragging me back there."

"No, actually. Eiji was going to, but Oishi stopped him."

"Remind me to thank Oishi later..."

"If you don't mind me asking, Chiaki-san, why do you dislike Momo so much?" Taka asked innocently.

"He's... He's just so.... I just don't like him." Taka looked at me in disbelief that I would spaz out on someone just because I wasn't fond of them. "You wouldn't understand, Taka-san. It's really complicated and a bit petty..."

"Well, we still have a ways before you reach your house, if you'd like to try explaining," he said kindly.

I took a deep breath. "Momoshiro-san reminds me...of my brother..."

"Your brother? I thought you were an only child, Chiaki-san."

"Well, I am now."

"I'm so sorry for your loss..."

"No, no! Nothing like that! He didn't _die_!"

"Oh! Wait..." Taka looked so confused. His eyebrows were fused together in concentration.

"He packed up and left home the day after he turned eighteen. He lives in America now. We never hear from him; ever. It's like he fell out of our lives. So, as far as I'm concerned; he's dead." Taka looked at me with a sad face. "What's the matter Taka-san? Don't feel sorry for me, I got over it a few years ago!" I tried to be as light-hearted as possible..

"How much about Momo that reminds you of your brother?"

"Too much. Which is why we can't be friends. He seems the type to be buddy-buddy one day and the next, he's off on a different continent without so much as a goodbye."

"But Momo isn't like that!" Taka protested.

"I didn't think Kakeru was like that either, but I guess it doesn't really matter what I thought. I was the dumb one out of the two of us… He left just like his name predicted. 'Flight'."

Taka was silent for a moment, and then spoke. "I'm truly sorry, Chiaki-san. But Momo's not like that. At all. We've all been together through thick and thin, and Momo's not a quitter in anything."

I smiled wryly. "I'd like to believe that."


	6. 6: I've Never Heard Of Selective Asthma

**A/N:** Why, hello. Here's our 6th chapter, which, once again was written completely over email. And Lex had to use her iPod again. It still ended well though, I do believe. :) Special thanks to everyone who reviewed! It made us happy which caused us to post something before midnight. :)

And just so everyone knows, Lex isn't a fanfiction review reading elitist... I'm not sure what that means exactly, but it sounds bad, so if you can figure out what that means, Lex is not one of those. ;) On a happier note, I have bacon! :)

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Prince of Tennis, because if we did, Momo and Kamio would be fuzed together to create... KAMIMOMO! Aka: Our friend Cole. I don't think he knows that we call him that quite yet... Oh well, he'll find out soon enough. :)

* * *

"Oka-san_! I _**_refuse _**_to let you quiz me on a Sunday!_"

"Chiaki, if you would just answer this one simple question -"

"Oka-san, I _do not know _nor do I _care _about homonyms! In _English, _no less!" I plopped on the couch with a tub of chocolate ice cream, flipping on the television much to my mother's dismay. "Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to watch the latest chapter of Ninja Warrior unfold."

I sunk into our furniture with a sigh. Mom was trying to get me to work on my day off again, and it was seriously ticking me off... Not to mention, I hadn't really talked to Eiji or Fuji for a few days... Even though I'd never admit it out loud, I might kind of miss them. I think they were mad because of the whole Momoshiro thing.

Taka had better not have told anyone about my brother, because if he did I'll feed him to Aphrodite. Bit by bit by painstaking bit. I laughed a bit at every wipe out I was watching on the show, followed by a sharp pain alerting me that I was still worried that Eiji and Fuji were mad at me.

Who knew that Eiji could even get mad?

The show ended, and I looked at my carton of chocolate ice cream. I realized that I'd already eaten around half of it, and I quickly got up and put it in the freezer. With nothing to do downstairs, I trudged up the stairs to my room...

Just because I didn't like Momoshiro didn't mean that I wanted to alienate my few other friends.

The door rang, but I didn't jump. It was the mailman, just like every other day. I laid there on the bed, staring at Aphrodite, who seemed to be staring back.

"What you looking at, punk?" I asked her, staring down the plant.

"Well, I have to say it's quite amusing to watch you and your Venus Fly Trap interact..." I heard Fuji's voice.

"Fuji-san! Holy hell! When did you -"

"Your father let me in. I hope you don't mind, but he pointed me up to your room."

"Ah..." Well, there wasn't that much that I could do at this point. "It doesn't matter... Why're you here? I thought you guys were all mad at me after what I did back at the restaurant."

"Nah, Momo was out of line. He really shouldn't provoke girls like that."

"Why didn't you come earlier then?"

"Eiji wanted to, but we decided to give you time to cool off. Anyway, I believe that you owe me something for saving you from the clutches of Eiji."

"Oh! Right! Well, here are some flies," I said, handing him a container. "Aphrodite, this is Fuji-san. He'll be feeding you today."

Fuji laughed. "Does she not like strangers feeding her?" he asked sarcastically.

"I don't know. No one else has fed her before..."

Fuji fed Aphrodite in silence. As he closed the lid on the fly container, he said, "I know why you hate Momo."

"What?"

"He reminds you of your older brother who left you, doesn't he?"

"Taka-san! I'm going to kill him!"

"Whoa, calm down, Chiaki-san," he said, holding his hands out in front of him. "It's okay, I'm the only one that knows besides Taka."

I eyed him with suspicion. "And is that _everyone_ who will ever know?"

"Well, yeah. Unless you tell someone else..."

"Which I won't. Just make sure Eiji-kun and Momoshiro-san never find out. I don't want Eiji-kun to go crazy and attempt to find my brother or something and I don't want Momoshiro-san to try to confront me about it," I said harshly.

"That's no problem. I don't like meddling in other people's lives..."

"You are such a liar, Fuji-san! Everyone knows that sadists _love_ screwing with people's lives!"

Fuji shrugged with an empty smile as the doorbell rang again. This time I was sure it was the mailman.

"Aki-chan! Aki-chan!" Eiji squealed. He glomped me as soon as he came through my bedroom door.

"Hi, Eiji-kun!"

"Fujiko!!! Are you trying to steal my Aki-chan from me?!" Eiji accused, still not letting go of me.

"No, not at all." Fuji replied with an empty smile as he turned back to Aphrodite.

"I MISSED you, Aki-chan!"

"Uh... I missed you too, Eiji-kun...

"So, now that me and Fujiko are here, what do you wanna do, nyah?"

"I don't know... My house is a pretty boring place. We could watch a movie or something. Or we could go somewhere. It doesn't matter to me."

"If we stay here much longer, your mother is likely to have a heart attack Chiaki-san."

"Hey! Fujiko! Do you want to go check out those street tennis courts Echizen was talking about?"

"Do you play tennis Chiaki-san?"

"Ahah. Good joke." Eiji's grip on me was still firm.

"Well, we'll teach you then, nyah!"

Oh god.

"We have to stop by my house. I need my racket, nyah! Then Fujiko can get his, and we'll be off!"

I looked to Fuji for help, but that stupid smile remained plastered on his face. Damn sadist.

The next thing I know, I'm on a court across from Fuji as Eiji's handing me a racket.

"Okay, so you hold it like this, nyah," he said as he put it in my hand.

"Uh...Okay...Fuji-san! I don't think this is such a good idea!" I yelled across the court.

"Don't worry so much. We'll just show you the basics. Are you ready?" I nodded as he served the ball to me. It bounced once and I completely missed it.

"Are you _sure_ this is a good idea?" I said a few minutes later after I had fallen down several times and still hadn't hit a ball.

"Well, maybe if you wouldn't choke the racket, you'd be able to hit the ball."

"And maybe you should open your eyes when you play tennis! You're going to kill yourself one of these days and on your headstone they'll put, _'Here Fuji Syuusuke lies, If only he would've opened his eyes!'_"

"Well, you're still choking Eiji's racket to death. I'll open my eyes if you hit a ball," he said with that plastered-on smile of his.

"Here, Aki-chan. Hold it down here more and bend your knees a little, nyah," Eiji said as he readjusted my hands.

"Thanks, Eiji-kun," I sighed. "Ready, Fuji-san!"

He hit the ball up towards the net. I ran to it and just after it bounced, I made contact! The only problem was that it went over the fence....Into the other courts...

Fuji laughed. "You shank it, you shag it."

"Hey, at least I hit it!" I grumbled. "You better open your damn eyes for me..."

"You didn't hit it in, so it doesn't count."

I grumbled some more as I went over to the other court to retrieve the ball.

"Momo-senpai?" Echizen started to walk over to the boy on the ground.

"Oh, hey, Shortstuff. Uh, did you happen to see a ball come over here?"

"Do you mean the one that just hit Momo-senpai in the back of the neck?"

"Uh... I suppose that that would be the one..." I said uneasily.

I spotted a green tennis ball on the far side of the court, and dashed across to get it.

"Unh..." Momoshiro was coming to. I turned bright red. "Uh, um, I'll see you around, Shortstuff!"

"Uh, okay..." Echizen said.

I flew out of there, running back to where Eiji and Fuji were, panting and out of breath.

"Aki-chan? Why are you so winded, nyah?"

"Um... My asthma! Yeah, that's right! My asthma's acting up..."

"Oh. Are you okay, nyah?"

"Yeah, Eiji-kun, I'm fine." Eiji grinned, and turned his back, as Fuji said to me quietly, "Funny. I've never heard of selective asthma before."

My cheeks turned scarlet.


	7. 7: The Great Plains!

**A/N:** Hello everyone, again. I hope you're all enjoying our story thus far! As usual, this was written completely over email, but Lex didn't have to use her iPod this time! So, um, yeah. Well I'm not really sure what to say anymore in these here authors notes. So if you guys have any suggestions for authors note conversation starters, you should really tell me... otherwise, these will get really boring and that's no fun.

Oh, um the first thing that happens in this chapter actually happens in our G.T. class whenever Stevens doesn't want to deal with us, so we bring out the games. He only has 20 Questions and Whats-it, but it entertains us for a while. And the answers Chiaki gives are always the ones we shout out first. So now that we're done with that random bit of trivia...

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Prince Of Tennis, if we did, many bad things would happen. So many bad things, that I'm not even going to attempt to list any. So use your imagination, if you have one. ;)

* * *

"I am a thing."

"Toaster Oven!!"

"Chiaki, please wait for me to give the clues first. But you are correct, it was a toaster oven."

"Score!" This was my mom's idea of teaching me English in a _fun way_. We were playing twenty questions; the super-old board game version.

"Okay, next one. I am a place."

"The Great Plains!!!"

"Chiaki! Wait for the clues! I am..."

"The Great Wall of China!" I loved doing this to her. What's sad is that I can usually guess it without her having to give me any clues. We've played it so many times that I know what every card says.

My mother's mouth was a thin line. "I think that's enough for today, if you won't take this seriously."

"Awesome. Hey, oto-chan! Can I have a couple hundred yen? We need more Pocky," I called as I ran up the stairs to my dad's study.

"Oh, sure, Chiaki. Just make sure you share it with me this time," he said in a fake stern voice as he handed me the money.

"Sure, oto-chan. Whatever you say." I shot him a smile before disappearing out the door.

No way in hell am I sharing my Pocky with that man. The Pocky is _mine._

I booked it out the door, walking down the street. It had been a few days since I'd seen Eiji or Fuji, even though Eiji called me obsessively. I hummed to myself as I made my way to the store, looking around and not really paying attention, the way I usually do when I go places.

I purchased loads of milk chocolate Pocky, my current favorite flavor, swinging the bag on my arm as I left the store. Around two minutes after I had started home, I encountered a guy in a bandana mercilessly beating up a Ponta vending machine that was known for stealing people's money. I twisted my face into an expression of extreme confusion, torn between curiosity at what the guy was doing, and fear that if I approached him he might start beating on me instead of the machine. I finally gave in to curiosity, and walked over to him.

"Fsshhh..."

"Um... Excuse me. Did the machine steal your yen?" The guy looked at me with slightly frightening eyes. I had to fight not to show the recoil I was feeling in my head.

"Yes."

"Oh." I smiled. "Well, this machine's not exactly the brightest crayon in the box. It doesn't work right, and it takes joy in gobbling up people's money. However," I said, motioning for him to move out of the way, "if you press this button, this button, and then double press _this_ button..." His Ponta popped out of the machine. "Then all is well." I picked up the can with smile on my face, and stuck a hand out.

"I'm Hasegawa Chiaki."

"Kaidoh Kaoru..." he said, taking the Ponta from my hand.

I looked at him for a long while. "Haven't I seen you somewhere else? You look awfully familiar..."

"Fsshhh..."

"Hey, you're one of the Seigaku Regulars, aren't you?" He nodded and took a drink of his Ponta. "I'm told by Fuji-san that you have one hell of a snake shot."

"Fsshhh..."

"You don't talk too much, do you Kaidoh-san?"

"Fsshhh..."

"Yeah, I thought not..." I mumbled. This guy was rather odd, but I sort of wanted to get to know him better. He seemed pretty interesting, if only he would say more than _'Fsshhh...'_

"Hey! Get out of the middle of the sidewalk!!!!!!!" I heard someone yell.

I immediately moved out of the way of the bike, but Kaidoh wasn't so lucky...

There was a loud crash as the bike collided with Kaidoh. I just stood there in shock at first.

"Way to go, Viper! You just made me crash my bike!" Momoshiro yelled.

"Oh my god! Kaidoh-san, are you okay?!" I yelled as I helped him up.

He nodded with rage burning in his eyes. "Hey! What about _me_?!!!" Momoshiro yelled from the ground.

"Well you didn't just get run over by a bike, now did you?"

"It's both of your faults that I crashed in the first place!"

"Pedestrians always have the right of way! _**Always!!!!!!**_" I yelled in his face. We continued our arguing-fest for a few minutes longer.

"Fsshhh..." Kaidoh glared at Momoshiro.

"What's the matter, Viper? Am I ruining your date with your girlfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend! I just met him a few minutes ago, dumbass!!!" If I didn't hate Momoshiro before, I most certainly did now. I don't care for him always implying that I'm a slut.

"Oh, so now I'm a dumbass?!"

"Yeah, I think that role fits you rather nicely."

"Why do you even hate me so much?!"

"Because you seriously piss my shit off! Now go buy some hair gel or something because hair doesn't get that way on its own!"

Our eyes locked in a glare which ended in a stalemate. He finally gave up on it, eyes softening.

"Look. I don't know what I did, but whatever it was, I'm sorry. I don't want you to not like me for something when I have no idea what I've done wrong." My eyes narrowed - that sounded exactly like something my brother would have said. I turned to begin walking back to my house again.

"My parents are expecting me. It was nice to meet you, Kaidoh-san. And, Momoshiro-san," I looked at him. "I sincerely hope that we didn't damage your bike," I said sarcastically, "It would be a horrendous blight on mankind if we had."

I saw their surprised faces just before I turned back towards the direction of my house. I held my breath until I rounded the corner. I quickly brushed away a tear that had formed in my eye. _Why are you crying?_ I asked myself. _It's nothing that I can't handle. Just ignore that guy and everything will be fine. You can't get hurt again by someone like him._

I got to my house and ran up the stairs to my room. I opened my second desk drawer to stash some Pocky in there. I froze when I remembered what the contents of that drawer held. I looked down to find dozens of unopened envelopes. All of them had American postage stamps and my name scrawled on them in Japanese.

These were all the letters that my brother had sent me over the years since he left. None of them had been opened and I had no intention of reading them. So why didn't I just throw them away? My brother is dead to me, and yet, I still kept all of those letters.

Maybe it's because part of me still wants to forgive him. Or maybe it's just because I'm not strong enough to let go...

And my brother and I were so close. Best friends until the end - or at least I thought.

Momoshiro... He's just too close to that.


	8. 8: RUOH!

**A/N:** Super sorry it took so long everyone! I had a stupid family reunion... It was stupid and I hated it. But that's not the point! This is still pretty fast updating compared to how fast I update my story, so you should still be happy. :) Well, unless you read my story too... Then you're just screwed because that's not getting done very fast... Sorry. :( As always, this was written through email... Yeah. I have nothing else interesting to talk about so, on to the disclaimer!!

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Prince of Tennis. If we did, I would force Tezuka to be my friend Cole's fanboy for no reason other than it would amuze me and Cole would love Lex and I forever. Or he would hate us... I'm not sure, it would just make my life better. :)

* * *

I stared hard at the picture that Eiji had drawn. I am the self-proclaimed queen of Whatzit!?. There is no way that I lose in Whatzit!?. It does not happen.

However, this Whatzit was proving difficult for me. The letters RUOH were written at the top of the picture, and that was all there was. I'd pieced together that RUOH was HOUR backwards… But that was as far as I'd gotten.

And it had been fifteen minutes. My eye twitched, and I jumped up, practically assaulting Eiji.

"GIMME THE CARD, DAMNIT!"

"No, Aki-chan! Keep guessing, nyah!"

I wrestled the card out of his hands ripping it several times. I didn't even care what the answer was.

"I win.. That's all there is to it." Eiji pouted. I'd thrown my temper tantrum, and I was now sufficiently emotionally drained. Eiji looked a little scared of me even..

"…Do you even want to know what the answer was, nyah?" I narrowed my eyes, and looked at him.

"_No.._" Eiji recoiled.

"Ah… O-okay, Aki-chan…" A smile crossed my face. I'm fairly certain that I'd frightened the boy to the Underworld and back. I felt a little bad… But not enough to apologize for it.. Mostly it just amused me.

Something I did feel genuinely bad about though was the way I'd treated Momoshiro… It wasn't his fault, and I was being a foolish, petty little kid.

Damn it Kakeru! You're troubling my life even after you've been gone for like, ever. And I wanna hate you really badly, but I can't!

So it troubles me even more that within myself I'm noting that I'm inexplicably attracted to Momoshiro! _DAMN IT! _But it's only just a slight inexplicable attraction...right? At any rate, I just need to get over it. We can't be friends. I won't allow it! Or at least I'll try for a very long time.

You know, I never had this problem when I was lonely and friendless. There were no raging teenage hormones buzzing about in my head and I _never_ lost at Whatzit?!!!! _Ever!_ But things change when you get hit on the head with a can of juice.

"So...um, what do you want to do now?" I asked, breaking the silence.

Eiji looked like he was seriously pondering something for a while before his face brightened with excitement. "Let's visit O'chibi, nyah!"

"Shortstuff? Why are we visiting Shortstuff?" I asked as Eiji dragged me to my front door..

"He has a cute kitty, nyah!" Eiji said as he pulled me out the door and onto the sidewalk..

The walk to the Echizen household wasn't too terribly long. But then again, Eiji's hyperness makes time fly. When we reached the house I asked Eiji, "Are you sure it's okay for us to just drop by like this? Shortstuff doesn't seem the type to appreciate that."

Eiji just rang the doorbell as his response. To my surprise, a monk answered the door. "Hi, Echizen-san!" Eiji said in his usual happy tone. "Is O'chibi home?!"

The monk who I assumed to be Shortstuff's father, given Eiji's greeting looked at him, unamused. Then he glanced over at me. A small smirk appeared on his face and his eyes twinkled for a second.

"Ryoma! You have visitors!" he yelled before mumbling, "And the one's pretty cute...." It was my turn to look unamused. Well at least I know Shortstuff's first name now. I didn't ask for it before... At any rate, Ryoma's dad was a bit of a creeper.

Ryoma came down the stairs, looking as if he'd just woke up, which was a possibility considering that it was only eleven o' clock.

"Eh? Eiji-senpai? Chiaki-senpai? Why are you here?"

"O'chibi!" Eiji screamed, grabbing Shortstuff in a monster hug, "We came to see your kitty!"

"Why do you want to see Karupin?"

"Cuz he's so _cute, _nyah! And Aki-chan's never seen him before!"

I'm fairly certain that Ryoma wasn't too happy about us barging into his house, although his father was more than happy to let me in. Eiji practically dragged me to Ryoma's room to see the cat.

"_Oh my God he's _**_adorable_**_!!" _The gray and white cat cocked his head to the side and looked at me..

"I told you he was cute, nyah," Eiji said. I turned to Ryoma with pleading eyes.

"Can I pet him? Please? Pretty please? With a cherry-flavored Ponta on top?" Ryoma looked at me with condescending eyes.

"Mada mada dane." I pouted, and Ryoma left the room, leaving me and Eiji alone with Karupin. I flopped down on Ryoma's bed, talking to the cat. "You're so cute, you know that? I wanna bundle you up and take you home with me!"

"Eh? I never pegged you as the animal type, Aki-chan." I looked at Eiji.

"I'm not, really. Not usually. But this cat is just too cute!"

Karupin looked up at me with a blank expression on his cute little face before he climbed into my lap and started purring..

"Awww... Aki-chan! I think he likes you, nyah!"

It wasn't long before Ryoma reappeared in his doorway with an annoyed look in his eyes. "My dad says that I have to be with _friends_ while you're here..."

"What's with the sarcasm, Shortstuff?" I asked, stroking the little ball of fluff in my lap. I saw Ryoma's dad peering into the room from behind the doorframe. "Hello, Echizen-san. Is there something wrong?" I asked him. I didn't figure that he had an actual reason, which of course he didn't. He looked a tad bit flustered for a second.

"Don't you think that you should be ringing the bell instead of spying on your son and his _friends_?" Ryoma challenged.

"I'm just making sure that these are suitable friends for you," he said with a fake smile.

"You never cared about that before." They kept bickering back and forth for a little while. I stopped listening and turned my attention to Karupin who was holding a toy in his mouth that looked like a cattail.

The next time I looked up, Mr. Echizen was gone and Eiji and Ryoma were staring at me. Karupin didn't seem to notice at all.. He continued attacking the toy in my hand with his little grey paws. "Why are you staring at me...?"

"Because you're so cute, Aki-chan! You should know that by now, nyah!" Eiji said grinning.

"Uh-huh..." I said in disbelief as I turned back to play with Ryoma's cute little kitty.

Eiji snuck up beside me, pretending to lean down to play with the cat.

And he grabbed my wallet out of my back pocket. I turned around, looking to see what he'd done... And Eiji had already booked it out of the room at around... I'm going to say a bazillion miles an kilometer. I realized my wallet was gone, and ran out of Shortstuff's room to follow the redhead, hearing Ryoma say a, "Mada mada dane," as I hustled to find Eiji.

I looked around to see him running out into the streets of Tokyo. I sighed, and kept running. There was no way in hell I was going to be able to keep up with this guy... But I had to give it a shot, right?

I was seriously cursing myself at this point for being athletically challenged.

I skidded out after him, and once I got him in sight, I yelled, "Damn it! Give me back my wallet, Kikumaru Eiji!"

I was out of breath and he was out of sight after about two blocks.

"He only did that to be annoying," I pouted to myself, "It's not fair. And he got me to stop playing with Karupin. Stupid Eiji..."

"Whoa! Are you okay?" I heard a voice I didn't recognize address me. The question made sense, considering I was sitting down in the middle of the sidewalk. I looked over to see a redhead who was most definitely _not _Eiji.

"Oh. Yeah. I'm fine. A friend of mine thought he'd be funny and take my wallet, and I'm out of breath from chasing after him." I stood up, the kid getting off his bike to help me.

"I'm Kamio Akira," he said, once I got to my feet.

"Hasegawa Chiaki. Nice to meet you," I said, smiling. I wasn't _too_ worried about the wallet. I knew Eiji would bring it back eventually.

"Do you want me to chase after that friend of yours?" Kamio asked me.

"No, it's okay. Eiji-kun should be back soon enough," I replied.

"Eiji? Do you mean Kikumaru Eiji?"

"Why, yes. That would be my friend. Do you go to Seigaku too?"

"No! I mean...I go to Fudomine. You go to Seigaku then?" The conversation seemed forced, but I noticed that that happens when you meet someone on the street for the

first time ever.

"Oh, no. I'm home schooled actually," I replied with a slight smile.

Kamio gave me a weird look. "Then how do you know Kikumaru Eiji?"

"Well, it's a long story involving getting hit in the head with a can of Ponta..." I turned around upon hearing pounding feet coming towards me.

And then, I was glomped. "Aaakkiiii-chhaaannnn...! You didn't make it too far, nyah!"

"Well, I don't play tennis like you, Eiji-kun. Hence, I'm not in shape. At all. Now, _get off me!!_" Eiji pouted as he let go of me.

"Kamio-san! Were you trying to steal my Aki-chan?! Nyah!?"

Kamio turned towards me with confusion. I just shrugged as if to say, _'You're on your own here, bud.'_

"I would never dream of it, Kikumaru-san..." Kamio quickly got back on his bike. "I'll see you around, Chiaki-san."

I smiled. "Bye, Kamio-kun!"

"Aki-chan!" Eiji quickly reminded me of his presence. "You don't like Kamio-san more than you like me, do you?!" I laughed.

"Of course not," I said, "Now give me back my goddamn wallet!" He smiled cheekily.

"Catch me if you can, nyah." And he was gone again.

"**Eiji-kun!!!!!!!** **Get back here!!!!**" I yelled after him. I sighed. That damn redhead sure likes causing trouble for me. Oh well. I'll just assume that this is what best friends do to each other.

Hmm… Best friends… I like the sound of that.


	9. 9: You Calling Me A Whore?

_***Tah-dah! It's here, loves, chapter nine! We would like to thank all of our reviewers, but especially chocolvr69, who has been with us from chapter two without fail. Also thanks to hoove-print-on-your-heart for reviewing.**_

_****Ah… Uh, to those who favorite/alert… It's lovely that you do so, but it would be greatly appreciated if you would review as well. It brings us great happiness.**_

_*****You should know we don't freaking own Prince of Tennis by now, damnit!**_

In case anyone's wondering, I got my wallet back from Eiji... Well thanks to Taka and his racket anyway. It's actually a really interesting story, but that was a week ago. It's old news now.

Even though it's Tuesday, my mother didn't give me any lessons. Instead, my grandfather came over and talked about the good old days. I guess that's supposed to qualify as a geneaology lesson, but I have no idea. As if talking about his favorite geisha from when he was younger helps me understand my family any more. And to think, I could be reading manga and eating Pocky right now! But, as it turns out, Dad ate all of my Pocky. He sent me to fetch some more. I'm pretty sure he just saved my sanity right there, but I'm still mad that he ate all of my Pocky.

I'm craving strawberry Pocky right now. It's my new fetish - my favorite flavor of Pocky changes every few days or so. Dad wants _chocolate _Pocky though, so I can't spend all of the money on strawberry Pocky. That makes my heart cry.

The internal tug-of-war raging over Kakeru and/or Momoshiro is killing me and making my brain hurt. Needless to say, I don't really know how my emotions are doing right now. I've sort of tuned them out.

Fuji comes over quite often to feed Aphrodite, and I'm fairly certain Aphrodite likes him. Lately I feel as though I've grown much closer to him as well. Between Fuji and Eiji, I never really feel alone anymore.

All of this was running through my head as I walked home with my bag of Pocky. That is, until I heard someone yelling.

"Hey! Watch out!!!" I turned in surprise, but it was too late. I got flattened by the bike that was racing towards me.

_I'm dead, aren't I? That damn bike has killed me._

"Oh my god, are you okay?" I heard a familiar voice say as he tried to help me up.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." I opened my eyes to see none other than Momoshiro. "Oh. It's you."

"You sound so thrilled to see me..." he said awkwardly.

"Well, would you be happy with the person who just ran over you with their bike?" I challenged.

"You were never happy to see me before then!"

"Why _would_ I be happy to see _you_?" Oh man....Another yelling match.

"Well, you're happy to see all of your boyfriends all of the time!"

"My _boyfriends_?! Are you calling me a whore?!!"

"Maybe I am...!"

"At least I'm not a dumbass like you!"

"What's your problem with me anyway? First you insist on calling me Momoshiro, then you told me I was acting like I was seven, then you knock me out with a tennis ball, and then you made fun of my hair! _What did I do to you?!_" Momoshiro had a strong grip on my elbows. His eyes were desparate. It was as if he actually _cared_ about me, even though I had been nothing but a bitch to him. I looked him straight in the eyes and tried to hold back frustrated tears.

"You're off your freakin' rocker! All I've done is be a bitch to you! Now why can't you take a hint and leave me the hell alone?!" He stared back into my face with determination.

"Because I don't know _why _you hate me! _'I just don't like you' _isn't an answer!" I scowled, and looked away. "Tell me why, and I'll stay away from you!" The tears started to fall... and then I heard a -

"Momo-chan! What are you doing with Aki-chan, nyah?" Momo looked over towards the voice as a reflex. I took advantage of it, and ripped myself out of his grip.

I ran around the corner, completely disoriented, only to run into Kaidoh Kaoru. He exhaled in that peculiar way he does, and then looked at me with angry eyes, saying, "Chiaki-san?"

I couldn't help it. As soon as he said my name, the tears started running, and I almost took him to the ground with a hug. He wasn't sure how to react - he just stood there. After a moment I pulled away.

"S-sorry, Kaidoh-kun... I g-got carried away..." I'd switched formalities without realizing it, but Kaidoh didn't do anything to stop me.

"Fsshhh..."

I swallowed once, and said, "Well, I guess I'll go home now... Thank you."

Kaidoh seemed unmoved, and I started to walk home, until I heard that damn voice all over again, "Oi! Viper! Have you seen Chiaki-san?" I locked up; I'd rounded a corner, and was out of sight, but if Kaidoh sold me out, Momo would be upon me in a second.

"No. Now go away, bastard."

I sighed in relief. I really owed Kaidoh for that. I took off down the street again until I stopped, realizing that I dropped my bag of Pocky in the bike collision. Great, now I would have to go back there. I'm pretty sure Dad wouldn't let me in my house unless I had that Pocky. Either way, I'm pretty much screwed.

Well, if I went around the block, Momoshiro would probably be a few blocks down by then looking for me. So, maybe I would be okay...

I looked around the corner of the building to see the bike right where it crashed into me. The owner was nowhere to be found. Thank God. I jogged up to the bike only to find that my Pocky was missing! My only guess was that Eiji stole it. He likes to steal things of mine. But I don't think he'd take it without letting me know about it. He's hyper, not evil. If he did take my Pocky, he'd be back soon anyway. I guess I could wait for a few minutes just in case. I plopped down on a nearby bench and let that scene replay in my head.

_"Tell me why, and I'll stay away from you!"_

Maybe I _should _tell him. Then I wouldn't have to deal with all this. But part of me doesn't want him to stay away from me...

The sky was overcast when I left the house, but it had started to rain. It was a steady downpour. I was thankful for the rain. It wasn't as easy to see my tears that way. I brought my knees up to my chest and cried silently. I was completely drained of all reason. I wasn't even sure why I was crying. Maybe it was because Kakeru had said some of the same things Momoshiro had said to me. I rocked myself back and forth to try to ease my welling emotions. I heard a soft voice from beside me.

"Chiaki...san...?"

My vision was blurred. I looked up and saw what, in my deranged mind, looked like someone I wanted to hate. "K-Kak-ker-ru...?" I studdered.

"Uhhh... Who?" the figured said, obviously confused.

"K-Kakeru..." I whispered and closed my eyes.


	10. 10: ChiakiCHAN, Dumbass

**A/N:** This was written by email. Like always. I don't know why I always say this, but I do. It's tradition at this point. You know, I probably should wait longer to publish this so you can all suffer from the cliffhanger, but Lex might kill me, so I won't. You have been saved by her... This time. So I'm really depressed right now because I just finished the last season of Vampire Knight. It was EPIC! You must all go watch it right now! Scratch that. Not now, but after you finish reading. :) It's probaby the best anime I have ever seen in my life and I've seen some damn good anime! I almost _cried_! And I never cry! I didn't want it to end! But it did, hence my saddness... Oh... This is a Prince of Tennis fanfic, isn't it? Huh... I probably shouldn't be advertizing other animes then.... Oh well, you'll live. :)

**Special thanks to chocolvr69 for your lovely reviews! You should feel special because I totally bolded your shoutout. And Lex says she loves you... Actually, it was more like, "TELL HER I LOVE HER FOR REVIEWING!!!!!!!!!!!!" But you get the picture. :)**

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Prince of Tennis, because if we did, hmmm........ Oh! I know! I would make the Seigaku regulars play soccer with Kamimomo (Cole) and I for no apparent reason. And I'm pretty sure someone would get hurt. :)

* * *

My eyes were blurred with tears, and Kakeru stood before me. It didn't make any rational sense, but it's not like I cared about that.

"Kakeru... I -"

"Wait, I'm not -"

"Shut the hell up and let me talk," I yelled, "You've been gone for years and now you show up again. I'm pretty damn sure it's my turn to make a point." Kakeru swallowed once, and stood there in the pouring rain.

"I never read any of your letters, aniki. They're all stashed in a drawer in my room. Not even oka-san and oto-chan know that you attempted to write to me. It's rather funny, actually. What I've really been trying to do is forget you, and all I do is come back to the fact that you aren't here anymore."

"It's not so lonely anymore without you. I've made friends. All guys, which I'm sure is much to your dismay. Eiji-kun, Fuji-kun, Taka-san, Kaidoh-kun -" Kakeru snarled at the last name, "Oh, shut up, just because they're guys doesn't mean they're all man whores. And then there's this one guy..." Kakeru froze up at the tone in my voice, although it's possible that this was from the cold rain. "This... this Momoshiro... He's tried so hard to be a friend of mine, and I won't let him. I hate myself for wanting to hate him, because he's just like you and because of that one fact I hate him and I find myself inexplicably attracted to him at the same time! And it's all your damn fault that I can't interact with people, aniki!" I put my head in my hands, still crying and rocking back and forth slightly.

"Why did you leave? I don't get it! You turned eighteen, and you just _left_ me! And because of you, this guy who I have no problem with, a guy who I have the potential to really get close to; I have to force myself to _hate _him because I don't wanna risk him leaving me like you did damn it!"

Kakeru stood still, staring at me. I broke the silence, "And why the hell did you decide to come back _now_ damnit!? Things were better! I even saw oka-san _smile_ last week! She hadn't done that since you left for goddamned America. If you _ever_ want me to forgive you, stay away from us! We were actually starting to become a _family_ again," I sobbed.

"Ch-Chiaki..."

"Shut up! I'm not done with you yet!" I screamed at my brother before dropping down to a stage whisper, "After all these years of trying so hard to _hate_ you like you deserve, I can't bring myself to. So I'm done, Kakeru. I'm done with trying to forget you. I'm done with blocking people out of my life because of the fear that they'll leave me like you did. You can't control me anymore, Kakeru. I'm not sure if it's possible for me to let Momoshiro in at all at this point, but I'm not the helpless, obedient child that I was when you left me. Y-you can't control how I live my life anymore..." I looked up to my brother with a determined look on my face. My vision was blurred with tears of resolve, but I still felt torn up inside.

"Chiaki-san -"

"And what the hell is up with this formality all of a sudden, aniki? Whatever happened to you calling me Chi-chi, huh? I always hated that name, but at least back then you were still _you -_" I looked into Kakeru's eyes for the first time since the encounter began.

Except that they weren't Kakeru's eyes. The color I was expecting to see was blue.

These were purple.

My own eyes widened, and I stared upon Momoshiro Takeshi, who was standing before me in a state of shock.

"Oh my God." I raised a hand to my mouth, as if trying to take back the entire confession I'd just given. "Y-you, Kakeru, n-not..." I collapsed, an emotional, nervous wreck, sobbing until I couldn't feel myself hurt anymore.

"Ch-Chiaki-san..." Momoshiro said, probably unsure of what to do at this point. His voice was the last thing I heard before I passed out of emotional exhaustion.

_It's warm here. And soft. Like a cloud. Where am I?_ I shifted a little. _Was it all a dream? Kakeru... Momoshiro... Did it really happen?_ I stirred some more and groaned. _My head hurts..._ It was then that I heard someone speak.

"Well, it looks like you're still alive..."

"F-Fuji-kun?" I peered into that empty smile of his. "Wh-Where am I?"

"You, Chiaki-san, are at my house, in my sister's bed to be more precise."

"Wh-What...? Who...? How...?"

"It's okay, Momo brought you here. He lugged you on his bike in the rain while you were passed out. He took you here because it was closest. We called your dad to tell him that you and the Pocky were okay, and your mother knows nothing of this."

"Thank you, Fuji-kun..." I said quietly. "Is-"

"Momo is waiting downstairs along with Eiji, Taka, and Oishi. _They're_ all really worried about you." He then threw something at my face. "Here. They probably won't fit very well, but put them on. You really shouldn't be in those wet clothes." And with that he left. I stared down at the bundle of clothing that he had thrown at me. Even though he didn't _say_ that he was worried about me, I could tell. That damn sadist really does care about me.

I changed slowly into the clothes Fuji had given me, thinking about what had just happened. Momoshiro... He brought me all the way to Fuji's? He.... I don't know what to do about him.

I had just slipped into the dry shirt when my favorite hyperactive redhead pinned me to the bed.

"Aki-chan's okay, nyah! Fujiko called me as soon as Momo brought you here, I was worried sick, don't ever do that to me again, I was going to -" I pushed a finger to his lips, sitting up on the bed. "Shh, Eiji-kun. I'm fine."

He grinned widely before hugging me again, stealing the air from my lungs. I heard Oishi's voice, "Eiji! Eiji, you're _killing _her!" I laughed quietly.

"I'm fine Oishi-kun." I smiled at him as I switched from -san to -kun, looking over Eiji's shoulder. He smiled back.

"I'm glad, Chiaki-chan."

"Are you sure you're okay, Chiaki-san?" Taka's shy voice was heard, although Eiji's grip on me hadn't loosened at all.

"I'm fairly certain that I am okay, Taka-kun. And -chan, please..." I looked into Eiji's eyes and grabbed his shoulders lightly. "Eiji-kun... Everyone. Could you... Could you leave, please?"

Eiji, Oishi, Fuji, and Taka filed out, Eiji pouting at me. Momoshiro began to follow, before I said, "Momoshiro-san. Wait." He stopped dead in his tracks, turning to look at me. Everyone else left, with Oishi dragging Eiji out. Momoshiro looked at me blankly, and I'm fairly certain he didn't know what to say. My eyes shied away from him sheepishly.

"I guess... I guess I owe you an apology of epic proportions, huh?" He looked at me in shock, as if he couldn't believe I was trying to say sorry..

"It's not your fault. It was stupid of me to keep trying to -"

"Don't you dare try to apologize. It was my fault and we both know it, so shh." Momoshiro was quiet, and I was too for a moment.

"So... I admitted some pretty embarrassing shit back there, huh?" He laughed a bit, and nodded.

"Well... I guess... Friends don't poke fun at other friends' deepest secrets, do they, Momo-chan?"

He looked confused before grinning at me. "No, they don't Chiaki-san."

"Chiaki-_chan_, dumbass," I winked at him and grinned.

Kakeru, I'm glad that it was Momo in that park instead of you. Then things would've ended differently. But I meant every word of what I said. You can't control my life with that fear anymore, Kakeru. I'm not going to shut people out of my life because of what you did. And even though I can't hate you... I don't think I can ever be your Chi-Chi ever again.


	11. 11: So I'm Eiji's Baby!

**A/N:** Hey guys. This is a fun chapter. Well, I think it's fun. If you agree with me, you should review, because reviewing makes us happy. And according to tradition, this was written over email. I'm really starting to run out of interesting things to say on these author's notes... Hmmm... Well, even though none of you care, I'm getting the manga Godchild in the mail from Borders soon! I am pysched! You should all read it because it's all gory/crimey/18th century London-y... It's fun. And if only Kamimomo would give me my 1st two volumes back, then Lex could read it and we could write awesome fanfiction about it for your enjoyment. :) New manga will help ease the Vampire Knight withdraw... :)

Special thanks to our lovely reviewers. You are awesome. Especially chocolvr69 and I think ArcticFire... I think. Well they review on a pretty regular basis... and so does um... artsygirl or something like that... Sorry, I don't feel like opening the stats page... :)

**Disclaimer:** We don't own Prince of Tennis. If we did, I'd cut off Oishi's bangs because they really make me mad. What was the point of even growing out two little pieces of hair?! It's ridiculous! Okay, I'm done. ^_^

* * *

"So... Hmm... What you're trying to say is.... that I should sneak into a house owned by a guy I've never met, just so I can be your back up to switch out his shampoo with green hair dye."

Fuji nodded, smile, as always, firmly on his face.. "I assure you, Chiaki-chan, that Atobe Keigo deserves this. You would feel the same way."

I eyed Fuji suspiciously. "You are aware of the fact that I would be a total dumbass if I just agreed with you, correct?"

"I know. But I have a feeling that you'll do it anyway."

He had me there. It's been my dream to sneak into someone's house for no real reason. Or it was shortly after Fuji suggested it. I just gotta act hesitant. "...I'll do it."

He smiled a bit wider and handed me a bottle of shampoo. It looked like any other bottle I'd seen. It was actually the same brand I used... I'll have to check my shampoo when I get home to make sure it hasn't been tampered with. Fuji would be evil and do that to me.

The next thing I know, I'm being whisked away to some guy's house. "Why do you want to dye his hair? Out of all the things you could do to him, why his hair?"

"His hair is like what you are to Eiji."

"So he likes to hug his hair until it dies....?"

"Not exactly. His hair is his pride and joy, his _baby_, if you will."

"So I'm Eiji's _baby_? That's disturbing...."

"Yeah. Just a little," Fuji laughed. And to think - a few weeks ago I had no idea what it was like to be an adolescent male's chibi. Kikumaru Eiji, you have screwed with my life in immeasurable ways.

My jaw dropped as the house came into sight.

"_It's a goddamn mansion!"_

"Ah... Yeah, didn't I mention the fact that Atobe Keigo is one of the richest junior high schoolers in Japan?" My eye twitched as I looked over at Fuji.

"No, you didn't. That's sort of an important detail."

"Now come on, Chiaki-chan. We need to finish the deed we came here for."

...Dear God help me.

Fuji and I successfully infiltrated the Atobe mansion, managing to sneak into his bathroom without any slip-ups. I replaced the shampoo bottle currently there with the one we had brought, and said, "Mission accomplished." I turned around to high-five Fuji, only to find...

He was _gone._

_Fuji Syuusuke left me in some random guy's mansion._ I am going to kill that damn sadist once and for all!

...Once I figure out where the exit is....

I turned my back to the door and looked out the window to see if anything was familiar. I then heard a very unfamiliar voice behind me.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in ore-sama's house?!" I turned around slowly, hoping to figure out a plan in that short time.

"Ah... Master Atobe-sama. I see that you returned earlier than expected..." I gave him a fake smile. I hoped that it would hide my obvious fear.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked again.

"I'm the new...maid."

"Ore-sama does not recall being told about a new maid. And if you _are_ ore-sama's maid, where's your uniform?" he challenged.

I stood in silence for a moment thinking until he glared at me to hurry up with my answer. "I was instructed to familiarize myself with the mansion while everyone was out... I was about to leave, but I seem to have gotten lost. So if you could show me how to get out of here, that would be awesome." I slipped into my normal manner of speaking at the end on accident. "I-I mean, I would be very grateful. Sir."

Atobe raised an eyebrow. "Ore-sama shall not reduce himself to giving directions to a lowly maid."

My eye twitched. Atobe the Bastard, as he would henceforth be known, was seriously pissing me off.

"Atobe-sama," I managed to slip into my obedient tone with much difficulty, "truly, I'll be out of your hair as soon as possible." I giggled to myself a bit at the pun. "But I'm afraid a house of such great stature makes it difficult for me to find my out on my own."

"Ore-sama is not amused." Atobe the Bastard proceeded to walk away, leaving me as lost as ever and fuming with loathing.

I ended up getting out of the house by finding my way to the first story and climbing out a window. I'm fairly certain I scared the shit out of the gardener, who was taking care of the landscaping outside.

Fuji was right. I did hate Atobe Keigo.

"Fuji-kun! You sadistic little bastard! Why did you leave me alone like that!?" I yelled once I found him leaning against a wall just down the street from the mansion.

"So you could meet the object of our tomfoolery, of course." His smile was still empty like always, but I could tell that he was greatly amused.

"I hate you," I said with fury and turned my back on him.

"Oh, come on, Chiaki-chan..." I started walking in the direction I was facing.

"I'm sorry, I don't speak to people who leave me in pompous assholes' mansions," I called and kept walking, picking up speed.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I stopped immediately. I really didn't think that he'd chase after me.

"Chiaki-chan, I'm sorry. And Taka's right, you do walk really fast." I turned slowly and saw two brilliantly blue eyes staring at me. I gasped.

I couldn't help myself. I glomped Fuji Syuusuke right in the middle of the sidewalk. "Fuji-kun!!! You have such pretty eyes!!!" I'm pretty sure I scared him to death. Sure, I'd seen Fuji's eyes that one time at the burger place when I flipped my lid on Momo, but that was just out of the corner of my eye. "Why don't you open your eyes more?! You need to show off your pretty eyes!"

"See, this is exactly why I don't open my eyes. I'm afraid I'm just too irresistible when they're open..." I immediately let go of him.

"Sorry... And don't talk like Momo-chan. It's a bit disturbing..."

"Oh, it's okay, Chiaki-chan. And you should know by now, disturbing is what I aim for." He then closed his eyes and put on his fake smile.

I pouted. "But you should still keep your eyes open..." He laughed and started walking.

"Why now, anyways? Of all times, why would you open your eyes _now?_"

Fuji laughed. "I figured it would catch you off guard, and distract you. Otherwise you were going to stay mad for awhile. Do you have any idea where we're going, or are you just walking in a general direction?"

I looked in the direction I was walking, realizing I actually had no clue as to what location I was headed, and said, "Your house. Because I want a Ponta, and that's the least you owe me after abandoning me."

"Fair enough."

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_**~Meanwhile, back at the Atobe Mansion~**_

"_Ore-sama's hair! What has happened to ore-sama's hair?!"_

Atobe Keigo had just gotten out of the shower and put on clean clothing, to discover that his hair was a beautiful St. Patty's Day green.

"_Nooooooo!"_

He had had suspicions that that girl wasn't a maid, and now he was paying for it.

He made sure to send a servant to the wig store to buy a replacement hairstyle until the dye grew out.


	12. 12: Lord Licorice is a Douche

**A/N: **Guys! I got Godchild in the mail today!!! You have no idea how happy I am right now!!! ...Anyway. OH MY GOD WE'RE ON CHAPTER TWELVE!! That's like, amazing! We really thought we were going to get bored with this story by then, but we PERSEVERED! Huzzah! This chapter was actually only like halfway written through email... We're breaking tradition on the account of we're going to see The Producers tonight. :) And, before that, we're going to Flannigan's! Which is awesome, because Lex has never _been_ to Flannigan's! *Insert Super Happy Dance Here* They have good bread there. :) Really good. *dreamy look*

Special thanks to our reviewers.... We don't feel like opening up the stats page... So I'll just assume that it was either chocolvr69, Artsygirl613 (I think... Ish.), or Hoove-Print-On-Your-Heart... But I don't really know. So thanks for that and the rest of you lot should review too! And also check out our awesome chapter names. They make my life better. :)

**Disclaimer: **Hold on while we think of something amusing to write as our disclaimer... Hmm... We don't own Prince of Tennis, because if we did, we would tie Kamimomo (Cole) to a bed and give him Kamio's haircut! Which we may do anyways... But seriously, if we owned Prince of Tennis, we'd be filthy stinking rich. And made of awesomesauce.

* * *

The walk to Fuji's house was long and perilous... Not really. I just felt like saying that. It was actually only a few blocks over. The walk was pretty eventful; mostly because we heard a loud yell coming from the direction of Atobe the Bastard's house. We almost fell to the sidewalk laughing. Or at least I did. Fuji just... he's Fuji. Leave it at that.

"You do realize we may get to my house and I may have no Ponta for you, correct?" Fuji asked, and I looked at him with a horrific expression on my face.

"Fuji-kun! Even _you _aren't that evil! ...Are you?" Fuji continued to smile in that peculiar way he does. I gulped, because my best friend is in fact that evil.

An overly affectionate acrobat and a sadistic prodigy are my best friends. I am a home schooled girl who had no social life until recently that sucks at tennis. Does anyone else sense something wrong with this picture?

"Now, Fuji-kun!" I said, dragging Fuji into his own house, "_Where _is your Ponta, you pretty-eyed sadist?"

"Find it."

"What?"

"Find it, and you can have some," Fuji said, sitting down at the table.. I pouted - I didn't want to have to work for what I came to steal from him! I began rummaging through the various nooks and crannies of his kitchen, hoping to find the juice.

I was really starting to get frustrated when I heard a voice say, "Eh, aniki, why are you stashing the Ponta in your room again?"

I turned to see a person who I assumed was Fuji's little brother, Yuuta. My eyes narrowed and I stuck my lower lip out. "Fuji-kun! You hid it in your _room_?! Why would I ever look in your _room_?!"

"I didn't say it was in the kitchen, did I?"

"Well, common sense implies that you find juice in the _kitchen_, you sadist." Fuji shrugged and smiled the way he does. "Where's your room?"

"Find it."

I stormed past Fuji's brother and went to a closed door that seemed promising.

"Hey! Get away from my door!" Yuuta yelled.

"Sorry. Tell your sadistic older brother not to send me on a Ponta-hunt through your house!"

I stopped at the next door to find that it was, in fact, Fuji's room. Before opening the door, I yelled down the hallway, "Hey, I'm not going to find anything dirty in here, am I? Like no porn or dirty underwear, right?"

Fuji laughed. "No, I think you're safe."

Why I should trust a sadist...? I don't know. But Fuji doesn't seem the type to leave such things around his room...

Still, I pushed open the door with an air of uncertainty. I surveyed his room blankly, before my eyes lit upon -

_Ponta!_

I quickly grabbed a can, and started to exit the room when I noticed something that stuck out a bit from the rest of the room. Ponta still in my hand, I walked over to the photograph, picking it up and smiling a bit to myself.

It was Eiji and I. Fuji wasn't in the picture because he was taking it, I assume. I don't even remember him ever taking the picture. It was one of the days that the two of them had dragged me to the tennis courts, and I remember that one distinctly, because it was the first time that I managed to keep a ball in. My entire face had lit up, and I'd dropped the racket and jumped up and down in ecstasy. Eiji had grabbed my hands and we'd jumped around together in a circle until we both fell down laughing hysterically.

That was the picture. Eiji and I, looking ridiculous laying on the ground of a tennis court, dying of laughter. I smiled to myself. Even Fuji was sentimental.

I placed the picture in it's original position, and re-entered the kitchen, holding the can high above my head in triumph.

"I _found _it! So take that, nyah!" I stuck my tongue out, Eiji-style, making Big Fuji laugh and Little Fuji look at me like I was on crack. I opened the can triumphantly and took a drink.

"Who are you, anyway?" Little Fuji asked, distaste obvious in his words. I raised an eyebrow at his tone.

"Hasegawa Chiaki. You're Yuuta-kun, right? Do you mind if I call you that? I can't call you Fuji-kun, because I call Fuji-kun Fuji-kun, and if I called you Fuji-kun too, that could get really confusing..."

"Yeah. That's me," he said shortly before retreating to his room. I was sort of confused, and I looked to Big Fuji.

"Eh... Fuji-kun, did I do something wrong?"

"No. Yuuta's just being Yuuta," Fuji said with his plastered on smile.

I left soon after I finished my Ponta. Fuji offered to walk me home, but I declined. Sometimes, I just want to be alone like it was before I met Eiji and Taka that day.

I was walking down the sidewalk when I heard an ever-so-familiar voice yell out, "Hey! Look out!" For a second time, I tried to move out of the way too late.

"Ow... Nice to see you again, Momo-chan," I said as I tried to push him off me. "Now I would _really_ appreciate it if you could get off of me."

"Oh. Sorry, Chiaki-chan..." he mumbled as he stood up and offered me a hand. "Well, that's the _third_ time you made me crash my bike..."

"_I_ made you crash your bike? Didn't we already establish that pedestrians _always_ have the right of way?!" We glared at each other for a while before we started laughing.

Momo picked up his bike and inspected it. "Well, the damage seems minimal," I said.

Just then, a young couple married couple walked by, holding hands and laughing at some private joke. After they passed, Momo smiled and sighed, "Ah, young love!"

"Young love? They're _older_ than you, Momo-chan."

"So? They're still young, aren't they?"

"You're totally missing the point. You can't call it _young love_ if the people you're referring to are _older_ than you."

"Oh, but I did," he said with an air of triumph.

"No. You're wrong. So just stand there in your wrongness and be wrong."

"Well..." Momo looked like he was about to say a witty comeback before he got a confused look on his face. "Wait, what?"

"Uh... I'm not really sure..."

Momo stared at me oddly, and began walking beside his bike, not getting back on and heading in the same direction as I was.

"So..." I said, breaking the silence that had set in, "Where are you headed, Momo-chan?"

"Home actually. You?"

"Me too, even though I don't actually have to be home for awhile... You live this way too?" He grinned cheesily, and nodded. I looked at him, and thought of something.

"...Do you know what you could do to pay me back for assaulting me with your bike?"

"I did not _assault_ you! You were in the way!"

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, you should totally come to my house and help me freak my mother out." He gave me a quizzical look. "And... We can play Candy Land!!!!"

"Candy Land? Seriously? I hate that game."

"How can you hate Candy Land? It is a game specially designed to teach children their colors and how much better the Chocolate Castle is from Gramma Nut's Peanut Brittle House!" Somehow, I dragged him to my house and we ended up in my living room; playing Candy Land.

Much to his dismay, I was winning.

"What's the point of this game, seriously?" he asked me after he was sent back to the Candy Cane Forest for like the millionth time.

"What is the _point_? The _point _is to reach the end of the Candy Road to meet up with King Kandy! Duh!"

He proceeded to chuck his gingerbread man at my face. It wasn't thrown _hard, _necessarily, but the fact that he wailed a small figurine at my face was still immature.

"YOU'RE SO IMMATURE! I CAN'T _BELIEVE _YOU JUST THREW THAT LITTLE GREEN MAN AT MY FOREHEAD!"

"_I'M _IMMATURE!? YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S _FORCING _ME TO PLAY CANDY LAND, DAMN IT!"

I proceeded to tackle him to the floor, laughing hysterically.

As I pinned him to the ground, my mother chose that particularly awkward moment to enter the room. What she witnessed was her daughter, dying of laughter, laying on top of a teenage boy who she could only assume had raging hormones and the strength to overpower her wimpy adolescent daughter.

Momo tipped his head back and saw my mother upside-down staring at him aghast. "Uh... Hi, Hasegawa-san."

I grinned widely, not moving an inch, even though I could feel Momo practically squirming. "Hi, oka-san!"

My mother stood there, mouth hanging open, glancing from me to Momo to me and back.

"Uh... Chiaki-chan..." Momo said quietly, "I think I should probably go home now..."

"Nonsense, Momo-chan! We've not finished Candy Land! And besides that, I'm quite comfortable!"

My mother's lips turned into a thin line as she walked out of the room in a silent fury. "Huzzah! She's gone! Hey, thanks for the help there, Momo-chan," I said, grinning down at him.

His cheeks were pink. "Uh... N-no problem, Chiaki-chan."

"So... where were we? Ah, yes, Candy Land," I said, finally getting off of him. I picked up his green character and tossed it to him, finding my yellow character.

"Actually, I think I'm done playing..." I pouted.

"What? _Whyyy?"_

"Why? Because Lord Licorice is a douche."

"...I would agree with that."


	13. 13: Your Chibis Are Hideous!

**A/N:** Hello, my friends, and welcome to another chapter of this story... I would type out the name, but I don't feel like it. This chapter was written by email, as always. But we actually had a scenario planned out like this for a little while. I'm glad we finally got to use it. You should be glad too, because this chapter makes me happy... The next two chapters are going to be super fun too because we actually know what's going to happen! Mostly, we just wing it. Like you know that whole situation with her brother? That wasn't planned at all... I just needed a reason for her to hate Momo. :) And it turned into a major plot point! But anyway, we have epic plans of...well, epicness...

Special thanks to our lovely reviewers! They keep us a going. :) And we have two new reviewers this time! Welcome to our story of awesome, Solar Powered Pandas and konahagrl432! And please keep reviewing! (I'm so glad, Solar Powered Pandas, that you agree with us on the fact that Lord Licorice is a douche.) :) And thanks to our regular reviewer, Artsygirl613! We may use your awesome quote, and if we don't, our bad. :)

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Prince of Tennis. If we did...uh...hmmm...I seem to be running out of fun things to say... Oh! I would totally dress Tezuka up as Glinda the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz! That's actually a rather good idea... Hey, Lex! We should totally write a crackfic like that!

_**Edit: **Yes! Yes, we should, Lissa! =D_

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* * *

"You may have won at LIFE _this_ time, Momo-chan, but there's _no way_ you're going to win again!"

"Bring it. You're just jealous that my wife is _hot,_" he said with a cheesy smile as he parked his little car at Millionaire Estates.

"Tell me, Momo-chan, how can a little pink peg in a stupid red car be hot?"

"Well, she's _my_ wife, so she _has_ to be hot."

I glared at him for a bit. "Well, your chibis are hideous!" It's sad that that was the best comeback I could think of.

"How can they be hideous, Chiaki-chan? They're just pink and blue pegs in an awesome red car!"

He had me there... "Chiaki! Stop fighting with the neighbor boy and go buy some Pocky!" my dad yelled from his study.

"We're out again? I just got some like three days ago..."

"Well, that friend Eiji, wasn't it? Well, he has a habit of eating it all. Which means that you need to go buy some more for your oto-chan!" he whined.

I sighed and got up. "Come along, Momo-chan. We must make a Pocky run."

"A what?"

"You know how in American movies, they always go out for 'coffee runs'? Well, it's like that, except with Pocky..." Momo looked at me funnily, but nodded as he rose to his feet. He stuck out a hand to help me up, and I took it, pulling myself up.

"You're aware of the fact that you're really freaking tall, right?"

He smiled, and shrugged. "Genetics do that."

"Anywho. Off to buy Pocky! Bye oto-chan, oka-san!"

I was in a very good mood for rather inexplicable reasons, practically skipping up and down the streets, which I believe amused Momo to no end. I spotted a redhead getting ready to jump on a bike, and I waved, practically shouting, "Hi, Kamio-kun!"

Momo looked at me strangely. "You know Kamio Akira?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "He almost ran into me with his bike... Funny how often that happens to me, eh?"

Kamio waved back, proceeding to get on his bike and pedal away. I pouted.

"I don't think he likes me very much..."

"Well who would?" Momo said, devilish grin on his face.

"Jerk!" I started walking away, waiting for him to follow me, and he proceeded to come up and grab my shoulders, walking in sync with me.

"Aww, c'mon now, Chiaki-chan... You can't tell me you don't _loveee _me." My cheeks turned slightly pink, but I completely ignored it.

_**~Meanwhile...~**_

_"_Eh! Fujiko! I want ice cream, nyah!" Kikumaru Eiji was bouncing in place, waiting for Fuji Syuusuke to catch up with him when he noticed one of his favorite people walking with a guy who was... _not Eiji._

He froze, and when Fuji caught up with him he said, "Fujiko! Why is Aki-chan with Momo-chan and not _us_?!" The redhead didn't even wait for his friend to answer him before he decided, "It must be a date! Fujiko! Why didn't Aki-chan tell us that she had a date with Momo-chan?!"

The brunette said nothing as Eiji pulled out his cell phone and dialed frantically. "Oishi! Aki-chan's on a date with Momo-chan! Nyah! We must make sure that he treats my Aki-chan with respect!" He waited for Oishi's response before adding, "Call everyone and tell them that we need their help to protect my Aki-chan's innocence!"

The brunette laughed to himself and thought, _And here I thought that the most interesting part of my day would be a chocolate ice cream cone....._

_**~Back to where we were before~**_

"So what kind of Pocky are we getting anyway?" Momo asked me, still not letting go of my shoulders.

"Uh... I'm in the mood for either Almond or Men's Pocky...But my dad wants Strawberry..."

"So what kind are we going to get?"

"Almond or Men's Pocky, obviously!" I said with a grin.

Momo laughed, "As long as I get some, I don't care."

"Psh. Please, Momo-chan! Don't be ridiculous! You are not yet worthy of _my_ Pocky! Besides, you're the guy. Traditionally shouldn't it be _you _buying _me _Pocky?"

I didn't wait for him before nearly prancing to the Pocky aisle. Even _I _wasn't usually this hyper. This was like, Eiji hyper. I purchased the Pocky, dragging Momo with me and exiting the store.

"So, where to next?" I chattered happily.

"Um... Shouldn't we take the Pocky back to your house?"

"We should... but we won't." I grinned. "Besides, this is like our first official hanging out. We should make it fun."

He smiled a bit, and said, "Well then, should we just walk and see what we find?"

"Indeed." We walked the streets, despite the occasional interruptions when I swore I could hear noises coming from the bushes.

_**~Meanwhile~**_

"Eiji-senpai... Fuji-senpai... Why am I here? And why is Oishi-senpai here? For that matter, why's Taka-senpai here?"

"Why are you here?! O'chibi, we are here to protect my beloved Aki-chan from Seigaku's number one rascal!"

"Why am I here? I don't want to stalk that bastard!"

"Kaidoh, do it for Aki-chan! For Aki-chan!"

"...Mada mada dane."

_**~Returning to Chiaki and Momo~**_

"Mmm... It's so pretty out here." Somehow Momo and I had ended up in a park of sorts, still just walking along. "I can't believe I've never been here before."

"I've never come here before either," Momo said, "What happened to the hyper you? Where'd all the mellow-ness come from?"

I smiled. "She fizzled out. I can't keep the Eiji energy up very long."

"Not many people can."

_**~Meanwhile~**_

"...Eiji-senpai, I'm going home."

"WHAT?! No! O'chibi, you must stay!"

"Eiji, they aren't doing anything wrong. There isn't even a date-like element to this."

"Oishi, that's just to fool you!"

"Fsshhh..."

_**~With Chiaki and Momo~**_

"Ahh... We should probably start heading home... It's getting dark." I looked up at the sky, noticing the sun beginning to set.

"Hmmm... When did that happen?"

"Well, that tends to happen when the world turns and the sun goes behind the curvature of the earth."

"Why thank you, Dr. Momoshiro for answering my _rhetorical_ question!" I said sarcastically.

"Hey, it's not _my_ fault that I'm brilliant. I did win at LIFE, after all."

I picked up my walking pace as a response to his arrogance and gloating. Momo didn't even notice that I had left him until he ran after me, grabbing my hand. "Oi! Could you kindly remove your hand from mine?" I said impatiently.

He laughed, "Cool your jets, Turbo. I'll let you go as soon as I'm sure that you won't leave me here."

"Oh, because you're scared that I'll leave you here all on your lonesome in this scary park?"

He chuckled. "If that satisfies you, then yeah. I'm scared that the park monsters will attack," he said with a wink.

"And what makes you think that I'll protect _you_?"

"Because I don't think anyone besides Eiji-senpai would play Candy Land and LIFE with you."

He had me there.

_**~Meanwhile~**_

"See that!? See that!? He's holding her hand, nyah!" Eiji turned to his posse to find that only the always-smiling Fuji was left. "Where'd everyone go?!"

"Taka-san had to go help at the restaurant, Kaidoh left soon after Echizen, and Oishi just left."

"Oh. Well, did you see what Momo-chan did to my Aki-chan?!"

"He was probably trying to get her to slow down. She walks really fast," Fuji said with an air of disinterest.

"Nyah!! Fujiko! Don't you care about what's happening?!"

"Not really," he said with a smile.

Eiji pouted. "But my Aki-chan..."

Kikumaru Eiji proceeded to slink out of the bush and head home, and Fuji Syuusuke continued to follow Chiaki and Momo.

_**~Chiaki and Momo~**_

"So... Now that you've walked me home..." I said, "I'd like to thank you for putting up with me all day."

Momo grinned, eyes closed and putting a hand behind his head. "I sort of had to walk you home. I live right down the street."

I looked down at my feet, cheeks pink again. What was up with this? I don't _do _shy. I'm just... I'm not a quiet person! What was going on with me?!

"Well, uh... bye, I guess." Momo started walking down the street, away from me, and before I could stop myself, I blurted, "Eh? Wait!"

He stopped in his tracks, and looked at me, confused. I ran over to where he was, and pulled out a box of Pocky, placing it in his hands, smiling gently.

"You... said you wanted some."

"Uh, Chiaki-chan, I was totally just kidding about that -"

He shut up quickly when I stood up on my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek before turning and walking into my house, collapsing with a stupid, silly, ear-to-ear grin as soon as the door was shut.

_**~Meanwhile~**_

Fuji waited as Momo stood outside her house for a moment in shock, placing a hand on his cheek before smiling stupidly and walking away. As soon as he was out of sight, Fuji emerged from the bushes and hit the 'review' button on his camera, which held a picture of a home-schooled immature girl giving Seigaku's number one rascal a kiss on the cheek, blushing lightly.

_Ii data, _he mused, mocking Inui's signature phrase.


	14. 14: Ask Your PrettyEyed Prodigy

_***Tra la la! Chapter… thirteen? I think? Not sure, and I'm too lazy to check… This chapter's short, and it's mostly just setting things up, but I still find it amusing… Next chapter will contain fluff. Possibly a lot of it. We aren't completely sure of it. Either way, brace yourselves. ;)**_

_****TO THE REVIEWERS! Each and every one of you is a total badass. I don't know why. You just are. Thank you to Solar Powered Pandas (DON'T LOSE IT, THEN! ;)), chocolvr69 (We missed you! How was D.C.?), Mel's Merleawe (Fuji is, indeed, evil.), The Irish Baroness (Eiji is my **__**favorite**__**.), Artsygirl613 (Fuji craziness is fun, is it not?), and also to BlueEyedSadist, who Melissa forgot to thank. Super sorry about that. She's a dumbass. =/**_

_*****We don't own the Prince of Tennis, damn it! If we did, we'd kill off Tomoka with the Death Note… But that's another story entirely… Can we write a crackfic involving that too, Liss?**_

"Chiaki! You have a visitor!" I looked up from the book I was reading, and yelled, "Hold on, oto-chan, I'm coming!"

I flew down the stairs to find Fuji, waiting outside for me to tell him to come in. I rolled my eyes and grabbed his wrist, pulling him up to my room saying, "Seriously, you should know to not even knock by now. When you knock, it just lets my mom know she has to go from 'naggy' to 'super naggy'."

He sat down on my bed, and I sat down on the chair in front of my computer, lightly swiveling around. He said nothing, and I raised an eyebrow. "Uh... Fuji-kun... Do you want to feed Aphrodite or something?"

"There's a more interesting reason I'm here."

"Interesting, huh? Try me."

Fuji smiled and held up a photograph in front of my face. My eyes grew wide and my mouth dropped open in horror. "Fuji-kun! How did you get this?! Were you stalking Momo-chan and I?!" I practically yelled. That picture showed me giving Momo a peck on the cheek. And I couldn't let that get out to the Seigaku tennis team! Eiji would kill me!

"It wasn't so much stalking as I just happened to be in the neighborhood... And I had such a great angle, I couldn't resist," he said smiling widely.

"Give me that picture!" I screeched as I took it from him and ripped it to shreds.

"It's too bad that I have several copies..." he said, holding up another one.

"Fuji-kun! What do you want from me?! What do you want me to do to get all the copies of that picture?"

Fuji's smile grew. "If you wear this," he said, handing me a paper sack with stuff in it, "to the matches tomorrow, you will get every copy of that picture including the negatives."

I looked into the package, gulping. "W-what... W-why do you want me to -"

Fuji's smile widened even more. "Why? Because quite honestly other people's misfortune amuses me."

I stared into the bag again, torn between fury and self-pity. Because it wasn't a choice. I had to go tomorrow, and I had to wear... this _monstrosity._

"I-if... If I don't...?"

"Then I'm fairly certain that the regulars would be delighted to know that you and Momo are -"

"SHUT UP. I'll do it, okay?! Just... I want you to enter a binding legal contract."

"Why?"

"_Because I don't trust you._"

Fuji chuckled. "Fair enough."

He proceeded to sign a piece of paper on which I had printed, _I, Fuji Syuusuke, do hereby pledge to give all incriminating photos of Hasegawa Chiaki and Momoshiro Takeshi to the former if she complies to my demands._

I looked at the paper, satisfied, if not still wallowing in self-pity. "Damn you, you pretty-eyed sadist..."

"Well, Chiaki-chan, I must go... I look forward to seeing you tomorrow..."

I looked at him, loathing clear on my face. "...Pervert."

I mumbled to myself the whole walk to the matches. It was mostly profanity or how I was planning to kill Fuji Syuusuke. At least my parents didn't see me before I left. That would make this even worse. I was fast approaching where Fuji said the regulars would meet. I could see their jackets huddled around in a circle. Maybe if I kept my head down, no one would recognize me...

"Nyah! Aki-chan! You came! Why are you wearing that? You're so cute!!!" Eiji yelled as he glomped me.

"Ask your damn pretty-eyed prodigy," I said with hate laced in my voice. Fuji smiled at me. In that bag that he gave me yesterday, I found a blue and white cheerleader's uniform. Of course, the skirt was super short and the top was a skimpy tank top.

"Wow, good job, Fujiko! Aki-chan is sooooooo cute!!!" Eiji finally let go of me. There seemed to be a collective gasp from the regulars.

"Fuji-kun, why did you do this to Chiaki-chan? You really shouldn't do this to people..." Oishi started to reprimand Fuji for me, which was hopeless because I knew for a fact that Fuji was a sociopath who was incapable of feeling remorse. You want to know what's even worse? _He's my best friend._

"H-hi, Ch-Chiaki-chan..." Taka started to mumble, that is, until Fuji slipped a racket into his hand... "BURNING!!! CHIAKI IS ON _FIRE_!!!" I couldn't help but laugh to myself. Taka is my favorite bipolar junior high schooler ever - but I believe I've already stated that. Somehow, it was impossible for me to ever be mad at him.

"Death. Kill. Prodigy. Boom. Murder." My mumbling was incomprehensible and didn't make sense to anyone else but me - in my head, however, I was planning the intricate assassination of the elder Fuji brother.

"Eh, Chiaki-chan, you look -" Momo had slipped away from the rest of the regulars to talk to me. I glared up at him.

"I hope you're aware of the fact that I just totally saved your ass."

Momo's eyes widened, desperately confused.

"Momo-chan! No! You got Aki-chan to yourself all day yesterday, nyah, she's _mine _now!" Eiji pouted before completely throwing his arms around my neck and resting his head on top of mine.

I looked to Momo, and quietly murmured, "I'll tell you later..."

"Eiji. Momo." The two boys looked up at the sound of their names. "Don't let your guard down."

"Tezuka-buchou needs to lighten up..." Eiji pouted. Echizen was staring at us, shaking his head slightly.

"What the _hell _are you looking at, Echizen?"

"...Senpais, mada mada dane."

"Is that a blush I see on your face, Echizen?" Momo taunted. Shortstuff responded by pulling the bill of his hat down over his face and walked away.

I heard a voice behind me, after Eiji let go of me and he and Momo went to have a pow-wow with the team. "Judging by Eiji's actions, there is a 97% chance that you are Hasegawa Chiaki," a boy in square glasses said, writing things in a notebook.

"And judging by the way you snuck up behind me, there's a 97% chance that you're a creeper," I fired back.

"I am Inui Sadaharu," he said never looking up from his book, "I've heard a lot about you."

"I've heard of you as well. You're the data tennis guy, aren't you?" He nodded.

"There's only a 16% chance that I am what you call a creeper. But don't feel too discouraged, you were merely 71 percentage points off..." With that, he walked away, and I heard him say, "However, I would suppose that being a creeper is subjective…" _What a creep..._ I thought to myself as I followed the regulars to the courts.

That day, long ago, when Fuji told me that Eiji was among the most normal of the regulars?

Back then, I didn't think it was possible. Now, however, I know for a fact that he was _right._


	15. 15: A Silence Ensued

**A/N:** Morning everyone! It's actually 12:30, but I pretty much just woke up, so it's morning. It's chapter 15, right? Okay, so this chapter, according to tradition, was written completely over email. We had some trouble with this one... It has some fluff, and I'm not skilled in writing such things, so pretty much all the fluff was written by Lex. I just inserted some random things to kill the moment. Because I'm really good at killing moments. I wish you could put that on a resume... Anyway, so I just got a monster box of Honey Bunches of Oats, the best cereal in the world, so I'm not going to keep you much longer because I'm starving. :)

Special thanks to our lovely reviewers: Artsygirl613 (Mamma Mia? Seriously? That is awesome.), ArcticFire (This chapter's longer I think.), chocolvr69 (Lex already expressed her missing of you, but I missed you too! :]), Practically Venomous (Haha... That's me.), and Solar Powered Pandas (I agree with you, but I sort of wanted Chiaki to suffer a bit with the cheerleading outfit. xD) We love you guys! You keep us motivated, which is very good. :)

**Disclaimer:** Nous ne possédons pas Prince of Tennis. In French! Take that! Well, if hypothetically speaking we did... Hmmm... I would replace the music in Kamio's MP3 player with classical music!!! :) I'd like to see his rhythm then!

* * *

This was the first tennis match I'd ever been to, and I was quite excited to see how my friends would do. First up was doubles 2 of Fuji and Taka. I didn't think that I would ever see those two team up. They seemed like they would have completely opposite tennis styles... But maybe that's what you want in doubles; I don't really know.

"If you have any questions, Aki-chan, ask _me_! Nyah!" Eiji said from my right, glaring across me at Momo.

"Uh... Okay... Why do they call it doubles 2? Shouldn't it be called doubles 1 since they play first?" A silence ensued. "Eiji-kun?"

"You should ask Momo-chan that," he said hurriedly.

I looked over at Momo. "I refuse to answer that on the grounds that I don't know," he said. I couldn't help but laugh a bit to myself. If these were the answers they'd give me the whole game, I'm pretty much screwed...

"Hmm..." I stared out onto the courts, watching the play begin. Fuji and Taka, to my eyes, actually paired up very well...

Which is why I was in complete and utter shock when they lost. This kid from Fudomine had some sort of super-move... I swear to God, every time he does it, it's like I can feel tectonic plates in the earth moving.

This move completely debilitated Taka when he took the shot for Fuji. Needless to say, I was worried witless.

"Eh, don't worry, Aki-chan. Taka'll be fine. He just needs to go to the hospital is all." Eiji grinned at me. "And now you get to watch me and Oishi play, nyah!"

His enthusiasm never fails. The Golden Pair was ready to go, and Eiji was biting at the bit to get started.

"Uh, Chiaki-chan? I don't think that Eiji's too happy with our friendship..." I eyed Momo sarcastically.

"Really? What makes you think that?"

"Well, there's the almost tackling you to the ground whenever I come near you. Then there's the glaring at me that whole last match..."

"Don't worry about Eiji-kun. I'll talk to him after the matches if it'll make you feel better about yourself."

"It will. Thanks," he said with a cheesy smile. "By the way, how did you save me? You said you'd tell me later..."

"Momo-chan, you _really_ don't want to bring up that subject right now..." I said through clenched teeth. Momo looked frightened for a moment before he turned his attention to the game that was starting.

As expected, Eiji was bouncing around as he waited for his opponents to serve. How that kid gets all that energy of his is a mystery to me... but it seemed to be a huge part of the golden pair.

The match was really fast paced, but even being the idiot at tennis that I am, it didn't take too much to figure out that Seigaku was winning. By a landslide... A little part of me felt bad for the other team, but the other part, the part closely resembling Fuji, found their loss hilarious.

"Aki-chan!" Eiji yelled as he glomped me. "We won! We won, nyah!" He was panting and he was really sweaty, but I still grinned.

"Good job, Eiji-kun! That was an awesome match! Congrats, Oishi-kun!" I yelled over Eiji's shoulder as he proceeded to crush my ribs. "Eiji-kun..... I know that you're happy because you won and all... And don't get me wrong, I'm happy too, but _get off of me!_"

Eiji, of course, continued to glomp the living daylights out of me.

"Ahh... Singles Three... I believe that would be me." Momo gave a confident smirk before looking at me, and I can only assume he was expecting some sort of encouragement.

"Don't let your guard down." I winked, and stared straight ahead onto the courts, laughing a bit to myself.

"Singles Three is between Kamio Akira of Fudomine and Momoshiro Takeshi of Seigaku," the official stated. Sure enough, there was the redhead from Fudomine.

"Eh? Kamio-kun?" Good luck Momo...

"Aki-chan," Eiji whined, disrupting my thoughts, "I feel like you don't love me anymore..." His grip on me grew tighter, and I knew he was being serious for once. Somehow or other, even though it was a crowded match, I zoned in on Eiji.

"Eiji-kun... Is this because Momo-chan and I have gotten to be good friends?"

"I just... feel like I'm losing you, nyah."

"Why though? You're never like this when I hang out with Fuji-kun..."

"But that's Fujiko! Fujiko would never take away my Aki-chan, nyah!"

"And you think Momo-chan will?" Eiji nodded fervently. I was extremely confused by this. I spend more time with Fuji and Eiji than I ever have with Momo... Sure, recently it's changed a _bit_, but not much. I started to laugh. I couldn't help it. Eiji just looked so adorable in his crushed state, that I couldn't hold it in any longer.

"What's so funny, Aki-chan?!" Eiji seemed genuinely upset at this point.

"It's just that, first of all... You're so cute when you're upset! And second of all, I think it's funny how you think Momo-chan could possibly replace you!" Eiji's face brightened a bit, but he didn't look completely convinced. "I really do like Momo-chan alot, but you and Fujiko--I mean, Fuji-_kun_ are my first best friends! I'm not going to forget you guys just because I have a good friendship with Momo-chan..."

"...You really think I'm cute, nyah?"

Ah... Such a short attention span...

"Only the cutest, Eiji-kun."

"Aki-chan, you're so adorable!" He proceeded to pick me up and glomp me yet again.

"So, uh, Eiji-kun... Could you put me down to watch Momo-chan's match?" He complied, but not without a pout or two.

_Okay, _I thought, _Let's see what Kamio Akira can do..._

It's funny, really. Watching the match with my little knowledge of tennis, all I really understood was that Kamio was _really fast_ and that Momo was _really strong_. Even with Eiji's commentary it didn't really help - Fuji might've explained it better, but Fuji was still at the hospital with Taka...

Other than all that, what I knew was that Momo and Kamio were tied at four games to four, and that Momo was sweating like a dog.

"He's tired... Dead tired..."

Dunk Smash after Dunk Smash (Eiji had told me that was the name of the move), anything at all to score a point, and Momo was at his limit. Six games to five, and Momo was leading.

_Come on, Momo-chan... One more game... _

I gritted my teeth, and gripped the chain link fence.

"You know," I heard a familiar voice, "It's extremely hard to take you seriously when you're in that outfit."

My cheeks turned bright red. "Shut up, Fuji-kun...You're ruining an intense moment!"

"Oh, I'm sorry..." he said with that smile of his.

"No you're not!" I called over my shoulder.

"You're right, I'm not."

The score was 30-40. I didn't want to breathe for the fear that I may mess something up. It was Momo's serve. I could feel the tension as he threw the ball into the air.

"You're going to have to do better than that, Momoshiro! I'm stepping up the rhythm!" Kamio shouted as he hit the ball with precision.

"What rhythm?! I don't hear any rhythm!" Momo yelled back in exhaustion as he slammed the ball towards the back half of the court. Kamio was caught on unawares as he sprinted to catch up with the ball. He could only manage to hit what Eiji called a "lob".

"Look! He's going to... DUNK SMASH!!!" I heard the seventh graders nearby squeal. And sure enough, Momo jumped high into the air and smashed the ball just in front of Kamio's horrified face.

"Game and match, Seigaku's Momoshiro." Cheering erupted from our section as Momo walked off the courts in triumph. We all flocked to him to congratulate him.

"Oh my God, Momo! You won!" I yelled, completely glomping him out of my utter excitement.

He picked me up around the waist, still holding his racket with our noses nearly touching, both of us smiling widely.

He touched his forehead to mine, still grinning from ear-to-ear as if he'd forgotten everyone else.

"Not gonna lie," he said, "you look pretty good as a cheerleader."

I blushed bright red, staying silent and still in his arms.

"But you're even cuter when you blush," he finished. I smiled at him weakly, cheeks getting redder by the second.

"Momo, buddy," I started, "You smell really bad."

He froze, and then laughed, setting me down on the ground with an arm still around my shoulders. Guess he didn't care if people knew about 'us' - er, whatever we were. Fuji forced me into this outfit for nothing. If Momo didn't mind this, he wouldn't have minded that photo...

Oh well. What's done is done, and I was perfectly happy to be standing there beside him, despite the teasing we were going to face later. Momo pulled me closer, and it seemed that my blush would never go away.

I was quickly brought back to earth with one look at the sidelines, where a group of girls were staring at me like I'd just killed their favorite grandparent.


	16. 16: I Had High Expectations!

_**A/N: **__I rather like this chapter. But I'm sucker for fluff, and that's the reason why. In fact, I specialize in fluff, whereas Melissa's quite fond of moment killing. =]_

_Thank you to our reviewers Artsygirl613, A Lazy Solar Powered Pandas (we still love you, even if you are lazy.), and ArcticFire. You guys rock my socks off._

_**Disclaimer: **_**Hmm… If I owned Prince of Tennis, I would make Eiji and Gakuto come play volleyball with my team so we wouldn't suck. Because we suck. And we can't jump. And that's all there is to it. On a happier note, I nearly gave a girl I hate a face-plant today. And now, enjoy chapter sixteen. =D**

Momo didn't really leave my side for the rest of the match, even though the rest of the match was just Kaidoh playing that Ibu Shinji guy... That was a long and rough match as well, but it was soon over with Seigaku winning. I didn't really focus on it much - the glares from the sidelines were overwhelming. If girls' eyes could pierce holes into one's skin, I would be like Swiss cheese, I do believe.

Momo, however, didn't seem to notice.

Other than that, it was pretty uneventful. I went home and proceeded to burn the cheerleader outfit after sneaking into Fuji's house and stealing every copy of the photograph that I had desperately fought to keep a secret. After that, I went to sleep.

That Sunday, I was sitting in the living room watching a rerun of Ninja Warrior when I heard a knock on the door. I waited for oto-chan's 'I got it!', but that never came, and then I realized that he'd gone on a Pocky run... Because I refused to. Oops.

I got up and made my way to the door, wondering who was here. Eh. Probably the mailman...

But, there stood my favorite redhead in my doorway with something in his hands. "Hey, Eiji-kun. What brings you here?"

Eiji cleared his throat and presented me with the object in his hands. I looked inside the little plastic container to find a hermit crab. "This is your and Momo-chan's chibi. His name is Syuuji. Fujiko and I are godparents. Don't kill him, nyah!"

I just stared at him. Eiji is quite the character... Why a hermit crab? Of all the things to give someone as a chibi, why a hermit crab?

"Uh... Thanks, Eiji-kun..." I said, looking at _Syuuji_.

"You're welcome, nyah! Take good care of him, Aki-chan!" And with that, he walked away with a big smile on his face. He came all the way here just to drop off a hermit crab? That kid... You gotta love him.

I put on my shoes and walked down the street, mumbling to myself over how this was going to work. Once I reached the door I was seeking, I knocked on it three times. I waited a little bit before Momo came to the door. It was obvious that he had just woken up from the way he was wearing pajama pants and a tee shirt, and his hair was a complete mess.

"Chiaki? Is that you?" he said yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Morning Momo," I replied as I handed him the plastic container.

"What's this?"

"This... is our chibi. His name is Syuuji. Fuji-kun and Eiji-kun are the godparents." Momo looked at me dazed. "My mother would kill me if she knew I had a _chibi_ out of wedlock; so it's your weekend. Try not to kill him, okay? Fuji-kun wouldn't care, but Eiji-kun may kill you... And I'm not going to protect you." I then turned to leave, but Momo caught my wrist.

"Wait... Why did Eiji give us a _hermit crab_ as a _chibi_?" he asked. His face was a combination of drowsiness and confusion.

"It's Eiji... That's just how he rolls..."

Momo nodded. "So, do you want to come in?" he asked, still holding onto my wrist.

"Are you sure you don't want to go back to bed? And don't try to convince me that you were already awake..."

"I should probably be getting up anyway. And besides, little Syuuji needs to spend some time with his _parents_," he said with a grin..

"You know," I said, "this is the first time I've actually been in your house."

"So..." Momo said, completely ignoring my comment, "why did Eiji-senpai give us a hermit crab?"

"I think it's a type of retribution," I replied, flopping down on his couch, "It's his way of apologizing to us... Maybe. He might've just wanted to give us a hermit crab, which is also a possibility. A very strong possibility..."

Momo sat down on the couch beside me, and I thought he was going to fall asleep again.

"Hey. Momo. Stick with me."

He looked over at me, grinning. "You do realize that you dropped the formality at the match, right Chiaki?"

I hadn't noticed that I'd done that, and when he said my name without a suffix my heart leapt in my chest, and a blush leapt to my cheeks.

"Umm... Uh..."

"Speechless, eh?" I turned away, refusing to look at him and his adorable bedheadedness.

"Well, I don't really mind it, personally."

"...Where the hell did the sleepy you go?"

"Oh, he'll be back in several hours... But lucky for you, you get to hang out with me until he comes back," he said grinning.

"Is that supposed to be a cute way to ask me to spend the day with you?" I asked skeptically.

"If it worked, then yes."

"And if it didn't? Hypothetically speaking, of course..."

"Guess what, Chiaki? You're going to hang out with me today!" His lopsided grin complimented the bedhead quite well. It took everything I had not to glomp his cuteness.

"Great. So what'd you have in mind, Momo?"

"Well, I should probably change and brush my teeth before anything..."

"Yes, that may be good," I replied nodding.

"Then I guess we could play a game that's _not Candy Land_..." he said with a smile. I faked a pout. "It's too early in the morning to deal with a douche like Lord Licorice. I have Twister..."

My face brightened. "I am the _queen_ of Twister!"

It wasn't even ten minutes later and Momo and I were about halfway through a cut-throat Twister game. While I was more on the flexible side, Momo could pretty much block off my options. I flicked the spinner. "Right hand, Red," I said as I tried to get a spot before Momo.

"Well, um... This is a rather compromising position..." I managed to say. "The real question now is, who's going to be the spinner since neither of us is in a very good position to do so?"

As if in accordance with our prayers, the doorbell rang.

"...I hope to God that's not your parents."

"I don't actually know who it is, to be honest. Uh, _come in!_" Momo yelled the last part, neither of us moving an inch.

"Eh, Momo-senpai, you left this at the -"

I believe that is the most shocked I have ever seen Echizen Ryoma.

"Don't just _stand_ there, Shortstuff! You are now our designated spinner!" I yelled from the awkward position I was in with Momo. Echizen just stood there, and after being silent for a moment, muttered, "Mada mada dane."

Echizen Ryoma proceeded to leave Momoshiro Takeshi and I on our own to somehow figure out a way to play Twister.

"Well, uh... What do we do now, Momo?"

"Now?" That Cheshire grin engulfed his face. "I win."

"Huh?" He proceeded to pull his leg out from under me, which my stomach had been resting on, and I fell to the floor on my back. In a moment, he was on top of me, laughing.

"That's totally cheating, Momo."

"How is it cheating?"

"Because I didn't win!"

"Chiaki, Chiaki, Chiaki... It's not always about winning. Unless it's me. In which case, I always should win."

"Momo?"

"Yeah?" Neither of us had moved from our position, and I could feel his every move on top of me.

"What... exactly are we?"

"What do you mean?" I furrowed my brows, trying to find a way to explain it.

"Do you - I mean, I... Oh, God, I don't know how to say it..."

Momo tilted his head sideways, and then did something completely unexpected.

Here I thought I was going to be a sweet sixteen... But I had my first kiss on a Twister mat, with a boy I, only weeks before, hated.

It took my breath away, to be honest. To be wanted like this, it was a feeling indescribably amazing.

He pulled away, and stared into my eyes. I had to break the contact, for fear I'd get lost and never come back.

"I guess that answers my question, huh?" I mumbled shyly, not able to look back into his face. He fell to the ground beside me, forcing me to gaze into his orbs. He smiled gently, and kissed me on the forehead.

"I should hope so."

I laughed weakly, and said, "You'd think with the way you talk you'd be a better kisser..."

He stuck his lower lip out, still dangerously close to me.

"You told me you'd never even kissed someone before!"

"...I had high expectations!"

And he laughed, accepting of the fact that no matter what happened to us we'd always be a dysfunctional pair of friends, regardless of what little romance occurred between us. We were only in junior high - it's not as though a relationship was high on our priority list.

"So... Where do we go from here?" he asked quietly, rather out of character for himself.

"Maybe... maybe we should stay like this."

He smiled. "Yeah. I'd be okay with that, but we need a place for _Syuuji_ to stay," he said with a wink.

I couldn't help but laugh. I completely forgot about my and Momo's _chibi_. Momo got up and extended his hand to help me up. He then took our hermit crab in his other hand and lead me to his room.

"Jeez, Momo... Someone doesn't clean their room!" I joked.

"Like you have room to talk," he retaliated. I pouted - my room was _not _this bad. "Hmmm... This looks like a good spot." Momo took his arm and swept it acoss his desk, pushing everything on the floor before setting Syuuji down in the middle of it. He grinned in what seemed like accomplishment.

"Well, that's one way to clean a desk..." I said smiling.

"Are you kidding? It's the _best_ way to clean a desk! And Syuuji seems happy there."

This boy... He's a bit of an idiot. A loveable idiot... But an idiot no less.

I laughed. "Yeah, he really does look happy."

He grinned toothily, eyes shut, and I shook my head, laughing.

_The funny thing is how I came to meet you, and how this all began... All because of a can of Ponta..._


End file.
